A Court of Wings and Darkness
by thenightcourt
Summary: The third book of the series (fanmade) where Feyre acts as the spy for the Night Court, Rhys as her mate unknown. Jurian and the King of Hybern wish to destroy the wall and they have to not only stop that, but also hide it from Tamlin and Lucien. Do send in reviews so I know what you guys think! Thank you :)
1. Chapter 1

I couldn't stand this place anymore. Tamlin had been too overprotective of me ever since I was brought back and had assigned one too many guards near me. I hadn't even been able to leave the mansion or do anything, but what was new about that?

The bond with Rhys wasn't completely hidden in us and I could get feelings from him from time to time, and in rarest moments, a word or two. I had yet to send a letter to him; if I were caught it would mean doom for us all. I disliked keeping the glamour on to hide the tattoo signifying that I was High Lady or the damper I had to put on myself to keep my High Ladyness (was that even a word?) hidden.

I trailed my fingers down the railing of the stairwell, my skirts swishing on the steps. I was once again forced to wear these hideous dresses, fake a smile and once more live miserably in the Spring Court. I missed Velaris, the Night Court, Amren, Mor, Cas, Azriel and most of all, my mate, my love, MY Rhys.

I took my sweet time getting to breakfast. I couldn't wait to eat with Tamlin boggling me with his eyes and Lucien once more giving me glares of suspicion. Waves of calm rippled through me through the bond and the tension in me lifted a little at the sense that Rhys was there with me. I smiled to myself and sent down little ripples of love of my own down.

But I couldn't help a twinge of annoyance that Ianthe hadn't been apprehended. She had mysteriously disappeared as soon as we got back from Hybern, no doubt fleeing back to the King for security. Tamlin had promised me again and again that he would get her back but I felt that it was another promise which would never be fulfilled.

Opening the door, I found Tamlin and Lucien already seated, both looking at me. However, Tamlin didn't sit at the head of the table-The King of Hybern did. With Jurian standing beside him. Fear went through me and I stumbled a step as they turned to me.

"Hello again." Jurian gave me a saccharine smile.

Concern, fear, and fury went through the bond. I regained my balance and looked at Tamlin. Keeping my voice fairly calm, I asked, "What are they doing here?"

Tamlin had the decency to look ashamed. The King answered for him, "Sit down."

I stood for a while longer before Tamlin found his voice and murmured my name. I hated that I had to do as he asked, but I had to if I wanted to keep my mask on. I took the seat next to Tamlin. Next to him, second to him, never equals.

"I am here to collect the debt you owe me for obtaining the bride. Remember that I get to take down the wall with your help-and your pets' of course." The King calmly said.

My fists clenched at his words. Tamlin's pet? I was nothing of his. A memory flashed through me-from Rhys's mind, not mines.

'" _Ah," the king said to me, clicking his tongue, "that. Look at you. A child of all seven courts-like and unlike all. How the Cauldron purrs in your presence. Did you plan to use it? Destroy it? With that book, you could do anything you wished."_

 _She didn't say anything. The king shrugged. "You'll tell me soon enough."_

" _I made no bargain with you."_

" _No, but your master did, so you will obey."_

 _Rage that matched Feyre's poured into me with those words. How dare he speak in such a way to MY mate? I would kill him right there and then if it hadn't been for the poison slowly worming its way into Azriel's heart._

 _I was proud of her when she said the next words._

 _She hissed at Tamlin, "If you bring me from here, if you take me from my mate (clearly me and not Tamlin), I will destroy you. I will destroy your court, and everything you hold dear._

 _Delight sprang in me which once more turned into molten rage as Tamlin's lips thinned and said, "You don't know what you're talking about."_

 _I would help my mate destroy him and rip him to shreds if it was the last thing I did, placing his carcass next to a similar one of the King.'_

The memory ended, and Tamlin's voice came into focus. I was taken aback from what had just happened-was the bond slowly healing itself, slowly increasing in power to be what it used to be?

"Feyre is still recovering from the Night Court-"

"It has been a week Tamlin. I am sure she is done recovering and it can be ended today. Now."

I hid the scowl that threatened to float on the surface due to the fact that they were talking about me like I wasn't even in the room. Jurian caught my eye and grinned at me with a wicked gleam in his eyes. I held his gaze, determined not to back down.

 _Feyre._

There it was-Rhys's voice in my head. Maybe it was true, the bond was returning to what it used to be. But now there were bigger things to worry about. Jurian strode to my direction, my eyes never leaving his. He stood behind my chair, Tamlin and the King's conversation forgotten.

A few moments passed and I was pretty sure he was holding my chair with his hands. I felt his breath on my neck as he spoke. "Oh, I'm pretty sure she's ready and fairly… recovered. She doesn't even flinch. Perhaps Rhys taught her a thing or two."

Tamlin growled at him. I narrowed my eyes and felt Rhys's relief when Jurian moved away from me. It seemed his predatory mask, or rather, master act was still on. The King merely chuckled and hooked a finger at one of the servants to come forward. "Bring our gift."

The servant scuttled away, one of the lesser faeries who worked alongside Alis.

"What would you want us to do?" Lucien asked.

"Well, firstly, I would very much like to know what happened with Feyre and Rhys at the Night Court. Did he train you? I would like to exploit the powers I saw that night." The King cocked his head in my direction.

"I-"

"Feyre will do no such thing. She is a symbol of peace for the people, she will not awaken her powers for your propaganda. If she were to, all the other six courts would most likely hunt her down, especially the Night Court." Tamlin snarled.

"And yet before she was taken away she wished to train and learn more about her powers. She wanted to use her powers for your people, but you refused. Perhaps that was even part of the reason why it was so easy for Rhysand to get to her, to use her and bring her to his court. Do you not think he trained her? Or what would you call that power of light that same night you got back your bride, that same night our bargain was fulfilled where I would get all the help you could get and give me. So do not go back on our bargain, Tamlin, and you will do exactly as I ask."

"You turned her sisters into fae," Lucien said in a voice that was not entirely his. "One of them was my mate, and you forced her into something that was inhumane, just to prove to those mortal queens that immortality was safe!"

I wanted to say something but none of them would allow it. Rage once more flowed in me but it was soothed by Rhys's darkness.

The servant returned, holding out a bottle of champagne. "A gift, for the Spring Court to show that I do not mean harm."

I eyed it suspiciously, and to my surprise, so did Tamlin and Lucien. "Pour a glass for the eye of the topic, would you?" The King waved a hand at me.

I sat there as the servant poured a glass for me. I sat there as she set the bottle on the table and was dismissed.

Finding my voice, I spoke. "Tamlin made a bargain that seemed reasonable to him, and I agree with that. However, what Lucien said was true too. You endangered my sisters' life by forcing them into the Cauldron, and I don't believe that that had been part of the bargain. You used Ianthe in your wicked scheme and you refuse us justice by letting her run back to you. You owe us something because of that and I demand my help to not be included."

There was silence. Then the King started laughing. It started off as a chuckle, then full, hysterical howls of laughter, which was soon joined by Jurian's chuckling.

"You are in no position to demand anything from me, girl. You are a mere child among adults in here, a chick among foxes. As for Ianthe, yes, she is being kept with me and being rewarded for her help in apprehending your sisters. But what do I care? If anything, Tamlin should put you on a leash and leave you in the corner of the room."

I could feel anger simmering in me, fire raging in my veins. Then, without realizing it, I exploded.

The curtains around me lit on fire, I lighted everything on fire, everything went up in flames and ashes and smoke, and only Rhys's and my own darkness kept me grounded.

Realizing what I did, I sent apologies down the bond for having perhaps broken the façade of the spy I was to be but was met with satisfaction instead. I was taken aback when I heard Rhys's voice.

 _Trust me, I would have done much worse._

 _Really? And I thought you were the more composed one._

 _I felt laughter down the bond._

 _How are we doing this-talking to each other? I thought the bond was broken._

 _You got it right, the bond is healing itself. Sure it takes up a bit more to communicate but it should be the same in a week or so._

"Feyre, what the hell did Rhys do to you?"

 _Try to act it out._

 _I know what to do Rhys. Unlike someone, I don't need repeated amounts of coddling._

 _But you do need repeated amounts of stroking… and licking…_

 _Prick._

"Feyre?" Tamlin repeated.

I willed my face into horror and tears to spring to my eyes.

"Tamlin-I-I am so sorry, I didn't mean to do anything, the king, he-"

"Uncovered your Autumn Court powers. You should thank me."

Tamlin whirled on him. "You did this to her-You planned this."

"I never do anything without reason."

I noticed the glass of champagne still on the table. It hadn't been touched in the slightest way. However, the glass of champagne in front of me was shattered, and I realised the alcohol most probably helped in spreading the fire. The king noticed me staring at it and smiled. "That is to show that no matter what you do, I will not be affected by it little one. Rather, I may expand those powers to my uses. Ready yourself tomorrow. Jurian will be taking you near the wall to see what you can do." He stood up. "Make sure she comes." He was very clearly speaking to Tamlin, who he still thought owned me, and then left, Jurian trailing behind him.

"I think-I'm going to go," I said and left the room. I could hear Tamlin giving orders to Lucien to clean up the room and coming after me so I winnowed myself into my room, locking the door with my magic and glamouring it so even that beast wouldn't be able to come in.

 _Rhys… I'm going to be alone with Jurian._

 _You'll be alright. I'm pretty sure you can take care of yourself. If not, I could also come over and bring you back… which depends on what you want._

I smiled at the fact that he still gave me a choice about what I wanted to do.

 _I will always let you make your own decisions, Feyre. I won't be Tamlin 2.0_

 _When do you say 2.0?_

 _What, I can't be a little modern from time to time?_

 _You tell me, you're the 500-year-old High Lord._

 _Your 500-year-old High Lord._

 _That's creepy when you say that._

 _Is it creepy when I'm inside of you?_

I hissed.

 _Prick._

 _Second time today… to what do I owe the pleasure?_

I laughed, for the first time since being stuck back here, actually feeling a little less lost and miserable for once.


	2. Chapter 2

I let Tamlin come into the room that night. As soon as Jurian and the King had left the court, I had winnowed to my art studio to practice my magic. It was only there where Tamlin actually knocked on the door and respected the fact that it was my territory, which was good as it gave me precious time to act normal, like I was painting.

Practicing was dangerous, of course, but there had to be a release on my powers, like Rhys, or they could cloud my mind and slowly eat away at it, leaving me crazed.

"How are you doing?" Tamlin asked me, closing the door quietly behind him.

"I don't know," I told him truthfully, "Is it true? Am I really going to go with Jurian to the wall tomorrow?"

He knelt before me. "Yes, I am so sorry, I had no choice."

Too damn late for sorries, Tamlin. Keeping my composture, I replied, "It's alright. The King had to collect one way or another. And you got me back from-there, so it's alright."

At the mention of the Night Court, Tamlin stiffened. He looked up at me and said, "I know it's already been a week, but-"

"You want me to repeat to you what happened to me there, don't you?" I asked.

"I need aa refresher," he said, standing up and sitting next to me on the bed.

So I told him everything once more, leaving out Velaris, relationships in Rhys's inner circle, Rhys's capture, the inn, and cabin, and told him the things he expected to hear, for example, the Night Court.

Tamlin shuddered and pulled me close to him as I recounted the events. When I finished, we were silent for a while.

"I'm sorry I didn't come get you sooner."

Hiding my disgust, I leaned into him, placing my head on his shoulder. "At least you did get me out of the Night Court in the end." When I didn't want to, I might add.

A low chuckle resounded in my mind.

"Feyre…" Tamlin breathed, turning his face so he faced me.

Shit. I had managed to get Tamlin off my back from moving on me as I had used getting back from Rhys as an excuse so I wouldn't have to deal with him and his lust.

Keeping my calm, I turned to face him and said, "What?"

Confusion flickered in his face for a moment but soon disappeared. He started to lean in and so I reached out with my claws, stroking past his mental shields and attacking his mind. I placed images of what he wanted to do to me in there, feeling even more disgusted about him as the sickening thoughts flitted from my mind and into his. I then rendered him unconscious and pushed him so he now laid on the bed.

Keeping my eyes away from his sleeping body, I snapped my fingers, covering his body with the blanket and another snap caused his clothes to be torn apart from his body, which I flung on the other side of the room. Something told me I would not be able to sleep that night, at least not next to his stark, naked body.

The next morning, the King was true to his words. Jurian awaited me below the stairs, cocking his head when he saw the dress I had on.

"Tsk, tsk," he muttered, "Hasn't your husband to be ever told you never to wear a dress when you want to get your hands dirty?"

With a wave of his hands, the dress I had on changed to a leather outfit which reminded me of the Illyrian fighting gear Rhys had once adorned me with. I scowled at Jurian and he merely grinned. "Come on," He said, reaching out a hand to me.

Tamlin's voice appeared behind me. "If you touch a hair on her head-"

Jurian's eyes widened at the sight of Tamlin, at god knows what. "You'll what?" He interrupted, "Cut me into pieces with those claws of yours? We both know how much the King would like that, don't you?"

"Hiding behind the King's protection? Not so manly, are you?" I cut in.

Jurian grinned once more at my outspoken words and I took his hand. He winnowed us to the edge of the forest, near where the wall was. I fidgeted, uncomfortable with how Jurian was looking at me like I was something to be used and forgotten.

 _Neither, Feyre darling._

I hid a smile at Rhys's voice.

"So, tell me, child of the seven courts, other than the Autumn Court's flames, what else do you have to offer?"

I shrugged my shoulders, reaching out to Rhys for comfort. His voice came to me and I almost sagged in relief.

 _Are you okay?_

 _A bit better seeing that now you're here._

 _What does Jurian want from you?_

I could almost hear his growl.

 _I thought you would know._

 _His mind shields are very strong, it would be difficult getting past them without him noticing._

"Feyre," Jurian called out, "You seem distracted. Talking to anyone in particular? An imaginary friend?"

My heart skipped a beat. I eyed him. "Why would you say that?"

"I don't know, why do you think I said that?"

 _He's a bit like you, Rhys._

 _I'd appreciate it if you never made that comparison ever again._

"Anyway, would you mind showing me that little mind trick of yours?"

At that, I froze.

"Please. I could sense the violation in Tamlin's mind. Makes me wonder. If you love him, would you do such a thing? Or maybe you really are scarred from the Night Court and couldn't stand to turn him down one night. The King thinks it's the latter by the way."

At the look of shock on my face, he laughed. "Yes, the King does know," He winnowed in front of me, lifting my chin up so his eyes could pierce into my soul, "You can't hide every delicacy about you from me, Feyre. Now show me."

So I did, but only because it would be better than further denying it. He made me try to use other courts' magic but I hid them all and appeared tired of him at the end of it. Only Rhys in my head truly kept me from choking that bastard alive with all the powers of the seven courts that he so desperately wanted to see.

When I got back, it was nearly evening. I was famished. I was half tempted to starve away in my room than eat with Tamlin but-

 _You better not._

I scowled.

 _I was just going to say BUT you would most probably be the sad little puppy again if I wasted away._

I felt his smile and hesitation.

 _What is it?_

 _I don't want to act too controlling, darling, but you know I can't stand to see you ruining yourself._

 _I know, and you don't have to apologize. I understand._

I felt his relief-with some bits of mischief.

 _Next time Feyre, I'll apologize to you with my tongue, lips, and teeth._

Heat rose in me.

Suddenly, a huge weight came down on me.

"Feyre!" It was Tamlin, crushing me with those beastly arms of his.

I saw Lucien at the side, looking rather sympathetic to the position I was in now.

"I'm alright, Tamlin," I said, pulling away from him.

"Did he do anything to hurt you?" He asked, looking me up and down. Not any more hurt than what you caused me when you took me away from my mate.

"No, it was alright. Considering that he was basically a psycho and I survived, I think I'm good."

"Okay. Okay." He breathed out a sigh of relief like he was glad that I wasn't going to break in his arms if I had given him a wrong answer.

"Tamlin? Can I talk with Feyre for a second?" Lucien interrupted.

"Whatever you have to say to her you can't say in front of me?" Tamlin growled.

There he was, the true monster lurking beneath the mask. Lucien could sense it too and he looked a little taken aback. I placed a hand on Tamlin's arm, looking as if I was calming him down.

"Tamlin. What he needs to say to me is probably important." I murmured.

"I'm his High Lord. And yours too. That important thing probably concerns us all." He turned to face me.

I cringed inwardly when he said that he was my High Lord. Oh if only he knew. "Please, Tamlin." I hated pleading.

He took a while to soften. "Alright, okay. I'll be in the dining room, okay? Shout out if you need me."

Like I couldn't take care of myself. "Okay."

He left-slowly, and I walked over to Lucien.

"So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" I asked.

"Can we go somewhere more private?"

"Yeah, sure."

He took my hand and winnowed us to the garden.

I breathed in the fresh air, looking around me. This patch of beauty in the Spring Court still survived and lived through everything. I smiled to myself. It deserved to survive.

"You sure Tamlin won't mind us being out here?" I asked.

"You look like you need the change in surroundings." He merely replied.

I nodded. "I do."

Well, at least he understood that. I don't think he forgot what I had said to him that day in the forest, that he had given up. I didn't regret telling him that, or the way he had felt afterward. What I did regret was losing the vision of the boy that was my sister's mate. I felt like the previous me, the human me, would have immediately envisioned them together, and that they were perfect together. A part of me now does think that, but I couldn't exactly imagine them fitting together once they saw each other.

"Feyre, do you think Rhysand would hurt Elain?" Lucien blurted out.

Oh. So this wasn't about his suspicions about me.

"I think that if he did, Nesta would probably chop his balls off," I told him truthfully.

"But what about Elain? From what you've told me, you make her seem…"

"What, weak? She's anything but that. She was the stronger one out of the three of us; she always had hope for anything or anywhere we lived in. Remember the cabin Tamlin broke through to get me to come here the first time? I always looked at it with hatred, like it was something that had to be destroyed. She never stopped looking at it with hope, that it was the home she deserved when she deserved so much more." I told him.

He was quiet for a while, then said, "Well I was going to say fragile but that works too."

I smiled.

"Feyre. Listen, I-" He sat down on one of the benches and patted the seat next to him. I sat down, "How did you get free of Rhys?"

I could once more hear the suspicion in his voice. I sighed. "Lucien, I think I told you a million times-"

"And yet I don't hear the truth in it. Tamlin always tells me to back down and I do, but I still can't shake the feeling that there's something you're not telling us. I may have a lack of an eye but that doesn't mean I see things differently. Well maybe by angle differently, but you get what I mean."

"No, I don't. I'm sorry Lucien, but if this is everything you want to say to me, I think I'm going to head back in," I said, starting to stand up.

"No, wait!" He said, grabbing my arm, the arm that had the glamour on.

It surprised me that he would be that desperate to grab my arm but it worked slightly in his favor. The glamour I had on flickered for a moment as I was unprepared and Lucien could see a glimpse of the tattoo lingering there before it was gone in the blink of an eye.

He let go of my arm, mouth gaping and shaking his head as if he could erase what he just saw. I was determined to erase it from his mind, all right, but Rhys stopped me.

 _Wait, Feyre. Don't erase it from his mind. If anyone can be of any help to you in the Spring Court, it would be Lucien, what with Elain as his mate and all._

And so I didn't erase the memory from his mind. I instead tried to lie out of it.

"What is it, Lucien? What did you see?" I asked.

"Your arm-I saw a tattoo on your arm-but-"Lucien spluttered.

"What?" I faked surprise, looking down at my arm. Of course, there would be nothing on it now but I still had to act like I didn't know what he was talking about.

"Please, Feyre," He stood up now, looking me straight in the eye. "Something's not right, I can feel it. First, that day in the forest where you talked like yourself and not like you were being controlled, Rhys's scent on you that day at Hybern and how you two acted towards each other, and you weren't even afraid for your sisters' lives when he took them. And now this? Feyre, you can drop the act."

I took a breath, about to steer the conversation away from the truth but Rhys stopped me again.

 _You should tell him the truth._

 _What? No! He could report back to Tamlin and we would be done for._

 _I don't think he would._

 _Are you sure?_

 _Yes._

"Lucien," I started.

"Yes?" He asked, waiting expectantly for an answer.

So, with a deep breath, I revealed my wings to him, the dark form of them spreading through the night. I then released the glamour on myself and appeared to him in my High Lady form.

He gaped at me and actually stumbled backward. Suddenly aware of how exposed I was, I immediately placed the glamour back on myself.

"You-you… Your mind wasn't taken over by him when you were there?" He asked slowly.

"No, no. My mind never was." I walked closer to him.

He didn't back away, which I thought was a good sign. I reached out my right arm and removed the glamour on it, revealing the tattoo that symbolized that I was the High Lady of the Night Court.

Now Lucien was confused. "I thought the King had broken the bond-or bargain- between you and Rhysand."

I scoffed. "Please. You can never break such a bond like that. I mean, you can if you kill one of us. This tattoo doesn't just mean the bond or bargain, it means that I am High Lady of the Night Court. And please don't say that there's no such thing, there is now unless you've been too affected by Tamlin's words that you no longer believe in what I say."

Lucien shook his head. "No, I believe you. Rhysand-is he truly not that beast everyone thinks he is?"

My heart tightened at the words that Rhys was a monster. But that was what everyone expected, that was the mask Rhys put on every single day to protect what he loved, and I loved him for that.

"No, he's not. He is one of the best people I have ever met in my entire life and I am glad and honored to be called his mate and his equal. So that's why you have nothing to worry about with Elain in his care. I would trust him with everything I had."

I assured him, "But can I trust you not to tell Tamlin? Can I trust you to be my friend and keep this from him?"

He gulped. "Tamlin is my High Lord, and to keep this from him would be really disrespectful but…"

"You don't owe him anything, Lucien. You've served him for far too long, you've endured trips back to the place you once called home but is now in your nightmares. You have the right to choose now Lucien." I told him.

He sighed. "I'm going to hell for this. Of course, I won't tell on you, Feyre. I'm not sentencing you to betrayal and nightmares again," Then his eyes widened, "Oh shit, speaking of betrayal. I am so terribly sorry I tried to force you to come back, the Spring Court was in ruins and I had no idea Rhysand didn't have his claws in your mind, well maybe I had a bit of an idea, but nevermind. Tamlin wanted me to get you back and so I did because he's my High Lord and I had no idea-"

"Shh…" I almost wanted to laugh. His traits did fit in with Elain's, "You didn't know. I get it. And I understand. But if you want to truly make it up to me, I need your help."

Lucien stiffened. "To do what? Because if it's to destroy this court like you said that night I'm not sure I can help you with that."

Tell him we just need his help to get you out and to stop Hybern from breaking down the wall.

"No, nothing like that we just need your help in well, getting me out of here, for starters, and then stopping Hybern from bringing down the wall."

"We? As in, you, Rhysand and what? Other members of his court?"

"Something like that. So will you?" I asked him one last time.

"Stopping Hybern will be difficult. He has eyes and ears everywhere, especially in this court. So you'll definitely need my help. The last thing anyone wants is for the wall to be brought down, except for Tamlin. The human world should be left out of this," He said.

I smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you, Lucien."

He grinned back, "One last thing. Can you fly with those wings?"

My laugh matched Rhys's, vibrant and beautiful.


	3. Chapter 3

**RHYSAND**

I met up with Mor and Amren in my private residence above the Night Court, feeling relieved that Feyre now had an ally with her in that atrocious court. I hadn't yet told her but I was getting worried about her being so close to Tamlin as Calanmai had actually passed that night we spent in the cabin. I would tell her as soon as she woke up, I hated keeping secrets from her. Tamlin would have gone through the rite without Feyre, which pleased me when I thought about it.

"How's Nesta and Elain?" I asked Amren as soon as I arrived.

"Nesta's still furious and taking it out in the cabin, while Elain is making more and more of those flowers spring up around the cabin," She said, grimacing.

I winced at the thought of Nesta destroying the cabin and possibly also destroying parts of Feyre's painting in the midst of it all. Another thing I would have to warn Feyre about, and also to inform her that Elain had started sprouting plants from her fingertips all around her. "What about Cassian and Azriel?"

Mor spoke up. "Azriel's getting better. The wound's mostly healed now and he's almost back to normal. He's keeping Cassian company in the House of Wind, who's… a bit worse for wear."

We were all silent at that. An Illyrian losing his wings meant shame and depression, and most would rather die than face the world without their wings. We still had hope that his wings would grow back but the healers had told us if that were to happen, it wouldn't occur until a long while later.

"I'll go check up on him later," I said quietly.

They both nodded and looked at each other once with looks that definitely were not meant for me. "What?" I demanded.

They both turned back to me and it was Mor who answered me. "Are… you okay? What with Feyre taken from you and your mate bond fresh, you're not… feral?" She asked hesitantly.

I turned so my back faced them, and it took a while for me to answer. And when I did, I told them the truth and what I truly felt. "Of course it affects me. It drives me crazy to think that she's in our enemy's courts, living a life that she doesn't want. But remember that she is my and yours and the court's High Lady, and this is her sacrifice for us to live. So can I be feral about her trying to protect her court? It makes me love her even more if that makes any sense."

I felt a shadow behind me, and it was Mor once more who placed her hand on my shoulder and gently turned me back around to face her. "We know," She said, turning back to Amren who gave her a nod, and then turning back, "We know," She repeated, "And we will get her back. I promise."

I nodded and spread my wings behind me. "I'm going to head to Velaris now. No progress with the book yet?"

Amren shook her head.

"Okay then. Well, I'll see you tomorrow I guess," and with that, I flew away.

The night air was cool on my skin, and the weather was great today. Unfortunately, all I could think about was how Feyre would have loved it, how her hands would have felt encircling my neck while I carried her, and how beautiful she would have looked with her hair whipping around by the wind. How she would have loved the casual little responses I would whisper into her ear about lacy little underthings or wingspans, and how her pulse would have fluttered beneath my kisses.

I landed at the House of Wind and folded my wings in so they lied on my inner shoulder blades. Walking in, I could already feel the pain and destruction. Listening, I could hear ceramic and glass being broken and shadows trying to soothe something. I walked down the hallways and went into Cassian's room.

It was like an explosion had occurred in there. Or a natural disaster, whichever one caused more devastation. Azriel was in there, which explained the shadows. Cassian was growling on the floor, his wings, Cauldron his wings, didn't look any different than the last time. He saw me and groaned.

"By the Cauldron, can't any of you just leave me alone?" He growled.

"Cassian. You shouldn't be hurting yourself over this." I said, crossing my arms.

"You're one to talk. You've never felt this way before, have you? Your wings, torn apart from you. Well, once almost, but still no. You still have your wings. I don't, Rhys. And I'm so fucked up I feel like I would rather die a thousand times than be in this position right now," He spat out.

I turned to look at Azriel for confirmation and he gave me a nod, shadows dispersing.

"What-"Cassian looked up at me.

"I'm really sorry for this," I said, and then rendered him unconscious.

Azriel caught him before he fell to the floor and both of us placed him on the bed. A wave of my hand cleaned the room. I turned to Azriel.

"He's going to be pissed when he wakes up," I muttered.

"Not if you bring Nesta along with you the next time you come for a visit," He said.

I shouldn't be surprised, he was my spymaster, and a good one at that. "All it would take to calm him down would be her saying his name a couple times and we wouldn't have to worry anymore," I told him.

He agreed with me.

"I should have told him before I put him to sleep," I sighed.

"He would have laughed at you and gone straight back to grovelling on the floor," He told me.

It was Feyre's blood that had healed my wings and wounds when we had been ambushed that morning after the night in the inn. Three mouthfuls, which was what she had told me. Maybe it would work for Cassian's wings, but right now she wasn't here for that. And the small primal part of me that was still fresh from the mate bond instinctively wanted to fight against it but I had to push it down for my brother's sake.

We both walked out of Cassian's room, deciding to leave the door slightly ajar so we could hear when he woke up.

"Are you feeling better?" I asked him.

"Much," He replied, rolling back his shoulders. "Of course, flying still stings the wound a bit but it should be a day or two before everything returns to normal."

We talked for a while after that, about how the rest were faring and how things were back in the Night Court and here in Velaris. I wanted to give Azriel more time to rest so I left after a while, promising to bring Nesta the next time I came if she wanted to.

The next morning, I awoke to Feyre's voice.

 _Awake, Rhys?_

 _Thanks for the wake-up call._

I could feel her smile.

 _I need to tell you something._

 _What is it?_

I took a deep breath and told her everything, about my suspicions of Tamlin and Ianthe, about Nesta, Elain, Cassian, and Azriel.

 _Why Ianthe? Of all the two faced bitches in the world, she had to be the maiden._

I winced at the increment of betrayal she felt.

 _Other than yourself in the Spring Court, Ianthe would have been another powerful fae, her being a High Priestess. It would only make sense if she was chosen as the maiden to perform the rite with Tamlin, and she would definitely make sure she would be chosen as the maiden to increase the amount of power she had._

 _That would explain why Tamlin was so agitated when he found out that Ianthe had left the Spring Court, with part of the power being taken with her. I thought it was because he wouldn't have the change to exact his punishment on her but his anger seemed too much, too powerful for something like that._

I felt her pause.

 _Nesta and Cassian… do you think they're mates?_

I contemplated it.

 _They could be. Nesta's good at hiding her emotions and Cassian is denying it like there's no tomorrow but I'm pretty sure they're both attracted to each other._

 _If she hears you say that, Cassian won't be the only one who gets kneed in the balls by her._

I laughed.

 _You have such a wicked mouth, Feyre._

 _I can show you what else I can use that wicked mouth for when I get back to you._

I could feel the desire rolling off in waves from the both of us, but we could do nothing other than lust for each other until we had each other in our arms again. I left for the cabin, hoping against hope that Nesta hadn't destroyed any of Feyre's paintings. I wouldn't mind if she drew a moustache or two on Cassian though.

I took note of the flowers that had sprung up around the house, roses and violets. Walking into the house, I saw that there were more roses and violets everywhere, around every nook and cranny, sprouting up under the floorboards, around cracks in the cupboards and walls. The whole cabin smelled like the goddamned Spring Court, and my nose crinkled at the fact that where Feyre and I had mated had been turned into a replica of the place she thought was a prison.

Elain walked into the living room and was startled a little by my presence.

"Rhysand-I didn't realize you were visiting," She stuttered.

Nesta followed close behind her and frowned when she saw I was there.

"I thought the whole point of this cabin doing things for you was that there would be no need for anyone to check up on us or do anything for us," Nesta muttered.

"Well Nesta, someone has to make frequent visits to make sure you don't destroy everything in here, especially Feyre's paintings," I purred.

"I wouldn't destroy Feyre's paintings. Maybe draw a few things on Cassian but that's all." She snapped.

I smiled to myself. Of course, those predictions had to be correct. By the Cauldron, when she found out they were mates… I had a feeling she could be the more possessive one and snarl at any females who stared too long in Cassian's direction, or at his right, or at his left.

"Speaking of Cassian, we might just need you to calm him down in the House of Wind. I'm pretty sure you've been noted of what happens when Illyrians lose their wings."

"Mor told me something about that. And if Cassian seriously can't control himself after losing his wings, how could I have expected him to protect me and my sister?" She spat out.

A cold rage simmered in me at how she dared talked about my brother, but I diluted it to a tiny stream. This was Feyre's sister after all, and possibly the person my brother loved, who she was now insulting.

"Be reminded, Nesta, that him losing his wings was to protect his brother, Azriel. He didn't do it in vain. He did it to protect someone he loved. He may not have been able to keep his promise to you but I can assure you he will never break it ever again, but you may not have the chance to see that if he doesn't calm down and not act like he could break and die anytime soon," I said coldly.

She was silent, and I felt both pleased and guilty about the flash of realization and pain for Cas in her eyes, at what he had gone through to protect someone close to him.

"And what of Feyre? Isn't she in the court with that High Fae who trapped her in his home?" Elain asked quietly.

I rolled back my shoulders. "We will get her back. But right now she's stuck there and we have no choice but to wait for the right time to strike."

"Wait? Couldn't you, I don't know, storm in into the Court and get her back?" Nesta asked promptly.

"That would be an act of war, entering other lands without the High Lord's permission," I replied.

"And is that not what you want? A war? Will there be no wars this time around, High Lord, because I'm pretty sure that is what is required right now, at this moment." Nesta said.

"We are starting a war against the King of Hybern, not between all of the Courts. To defeat the King, we have to get most of the Courts on our side, although I'm pretty sure the Spring Court has already most likely allied with him," I explained.

"Then would that not support you entering the Spring Court's lands to get your mate back?"

Elain spoke up, "And what of my mate, Nesta?"

Nesta flinched at that, but Elain continued. "What of my mate in the Spring Court? Do you wish to kill him in the midst of getting Feyre back?"

Nesta turned to her sister. "You will not be mated to that red haired prick, Elain."

My lips turned up at the sound of that nickname.

"He is a beast like the rest of them." She snarled.

"Them? Are we not them now too, Nesta? Fae?" Elain asked her.

Nesta flinched once more at the mention of them as fae. I felt that it was high time I left, and for them to continue their banter alone.

"Although your conversation is rather intriguing, ladies, I'll be leaving right now. Nesta, can I count on you to be waiting for me tomorrow so I can bring you to Cassian to try to calm him down? Or do you wish to stay here and reject everything related to the Fae world that comes your way?" I asked her, a challenge behind those words.

She glared at me, and like I expected, did not back down. "I suppose we would need him if we want to win this war. I'll be waiting for you here, all right."

I nodded and left them.


	4. Chapter 4

**FEYRE**

I was a bit shaken after hearing what had happened on Calanmai. I planned to ask Lucien about it later when I had time. I wonder how I had never known or felt that Calanmai had passed. Of course, there had been… distractions that night so who could be blamed, really?

I bumped into Tamlin on my way to the art studio.

"Feyre-you weren't in bed yesterday night."

Ugh. Just the thought of him wanting me and checking up on me even in bed. I gave him a fake smile and said, "I was up all night; I couldn't sleep."

"Okay. I was just worried," He ran a hand through his hair.

I was confused. He hadn't tried to look for me even with his poisonous, protective love blanket over me. Unless… And right on cue, Jurian walked around the corner.

He had been preoccupied with the King then. Was I supposed to go train with Jurian again?

Apparently so. He held out a hand once more like yesterday. Tamlin didn't object, but he did look like he'd rather spend time with Rhys than send me off with him again.

Training was the same like yesterday. However, I felt like he was getting suspicious that I was holding my powers back from him, that he suspected that a High Fae with the powers of the seven courts shouldn't be spending so long on uncovering her powers.

I went back to the mansion and managed to avoid Tamlin. I found Lucien outside the dining room.

"Lucien!" I called out.

He blinked at me and said, "What?"

I rolled my eyes at his hint of a disguise, an act to make it seem like nothing was happening. I gave him a look and went down the hallway to the art studio. A few moments later, I heard his footsteps following mine. Like a little lover's dance. Rhys would throttle Lucien and me if he ever heard me say that.

 _I would and feel very strongly to._

I laughed to myself, entering the art studio. Lucien came in a few moments later. "Wow…" He breathed, looking around.

I did use the art studio as my safe hiding spot but that didn't mean I didn't actually paint. From time to time, I would paint when I was resting from my own personal training. Therefore, I basically piled up all of those paintings all around the studio, and most of them were of the Night Court, of Velaris or the night sky. I put a glamour on the ones of Velaris so Tamlin wouldn't ask any questions but now released the glamour to show Lucien.

He gaped at all of them and stopped in front of one that depicted The Rainbow from Velaris. I had painted the swirl of colours of paints in that area, together with the browns and peaches of the artists' brushes and the whites, greys and blacks of easels and palettes and stores.

I went over to him and brushed a hand over the painting, feeling the texture of it.

"Is that where you were when you were with Rhys?" He asked me quietly.

I nodded and turned away from the painting.

 _You haven't painted me naked yet._

I huffed and smiled.

 _Prick._

Lucien noticed and asked me. "What is it? What are you smiling for?"

I paused, and told him slowly, "It's Rhys."

"Like… he's talking to you?" Lucien asked.

"In my mind, yes. He's also probably listening to this and laughing at how foolish you are," I told him.

"Seriously?"

The fact was further confirmed by a very loud laugh in my mind.

"He's laughing in my head right now, so yes, seriously," I smiled. "Anyway, I needed to talk to you about Calanmai."

At that, I felt Lucien stiffen. So he knew.

"When were you going to tell me? Was it Ianthe?" I demanded, turning to face him.

He hesitated.

"Tell me," I pressed.

Sighing, he told me, "I'm pretty sure it was."

That bastard. "And when were you going to tell me?" I asked, folding my arms.

"I was going to tell you yesterday night but you know I broke off from it because of other distractions like you being the bloody High Lady of the Night Court and plotting against my High Lord," Lucien shrugged.

"I didn't say I was going to plot against Tamlin," I said quietly.

He huffed, "I can see it in your eyes, Feyre. I think it's quite clear you want to kill Tamlin. And I don't know how I feel about it. He's my High Lord but you're my friend too. So I'm stuck in the middle of all this. I should probably talk to Tamlin about this and get some advice, wouldn't you say?"

"Lucien, don't you dare-"

"I'm not going to Feyre, like I said, I'm not going to betray you, I was just kidding," Lucien laughed.

I scowled. "Prick," I snapped at him.

 _I thought you specially saved that nickname for me._

 _I give that nickname to most of the fae men I meet._

 _And Tamlin?_

 _Puerile. Stupefied._

 _What wicked words._

I grinned.

"Okay, that's a bit weird. Could you maybe… stop that for a second?"

I gave him a smile laced with honey and he scowled back.

"Anything else I should know, Lucien? About Calanmai or anything else that could be important?" I questioned.

"Calanmai didn't go so well. Something felt wrong that night, the magic didn't feel complete."

I pondered those words. "It was Ianthe, wasn't it? She took some of the power meant for the Spring Court. Rhys and I had our suspicions, but I didn't think it would really be true."

Lucien's eyes widened. "We've had a theory about that but haven't really confirmed it. And if she had run back to Hybern with that power-"

"That would mean the King would have extra power with him," I completed. "But what for? Why would he need that power? Doesn't he already have everything he needs, all the magic he could possibly use for his schemes?"

Lucien shrugged. "Well, the King is planning, or rather, preparing, for war."

"And that was the other thing that you would have told me when?"

He raised his hands up in defeat. "Hey, I only just found out yesterday night AFTER our conversation, when the King came over to talk with Tamlin about preparing the Spring Court's armies for war with whoever that wouldn't stand with him."

"Did he specify which court?"

"Well, your court for starters. He did also mention the Summer Court but wasn't sure about that because Tarquin hadn't yet wanted to talk to him about it. He was more on war plans on invasion and getting ahold of this court. But Tamlin was hesitant and didn't yet give over the court to him even though he owes the King, still fulfilling his role as High Lord."

I thought of the magic that had been taken and how the King wanted this court. "Do you think… Do you think the King took the magic from here so the Spring Court would be less prepared for any attacks he could make if he wanted this court? And also to ensure that he was as close to the Summer Court as possible to attack it if they didn't ally with him."

Lucien swore in words that even Amren would blush at. "That would make a lot of sense. Damn, Feyre you're good at this."

"Wouldn't you have spoken with Tamlin about this and have thought of it before me?"

"He's not allowing anyone to get involved with anything that has the King in it, least of all discussing about it."

"What about Alis? I haven't seen her since she got back, other maids have been serving me and I've been wondering why."

He was silent at that, and I felt dread pulsing from him.

"What is it? Lucien, did something happen to Alis?" I started to feel panicked and worried for my friend.

"Tamlin found out she helped to get you out from here," Lucien said quietly.

I wanted to rip his throat out at that moment from being so goddamned slow to give me news about my friend.

 _Feyre, darling._

 _Wait, Rhys-I just. Wait, please?_

"And what, Lucien? What did he do?"

"He… He's removing her from the Spring Court." He said carefully, like the wrong word would get himself killed.

Rhys swore in my head.

"Removing-Removing, what?! Where's he removing her to?" I nearly wanted to scream at him.

"He's bringing her back to the Summer Court."

"And when is that happening? Oh Cauldron, don't tell me it's already happened. And what about the children?" I asked, horrified.

"They're being taken back with her. It's… she's being sent there tomorrow." Lucien had the right to look ashamed.

I was too shocked for words. I had known Tamlin was a horrible and controlling person-but this? Alis had helped me find my home, find my mate and family and she was now being punished for it? No. This would not happen with me in the middle of it.

"Tamlin has the right to do that? To anyone who isn't part of the Spring Court?" I asked Lucien.

"Yes," He merely replied.

"And… could he do that to you? Send you back to the Autumn Court?" I asked, already knowing the answer and dreading it.

He nodded, looking down.

We were both silent, and so was Rhys, but a sense of soothing and warmth came down the bond.

"Alis helped in bringing you to the Night Court, where I think… was healthier for you," He said quietly.

I didn't say anything so he continued. "When I found you in the forest that night, you looked fitter. You didn't look like you were starving or wasting away, you looked happy. Much happier than you ever looked in here, in the Spring Court."

"And yet you still wanted to take me away," I implied.

"That night was Calanmai and Tamlin had been growing restless, wrecking the manor until the servants who worked around the mansion had to wear clothing with this protective material in them so they wouldn't be cut by glass or splinters. We were all getting desperate at what he would do if we didn't bring you back." He explained.

"And what did he do?" I asked, feeling like I didn't want to know the answer.

"He punished all of us, including the servants."

"He took out his anger on all of you? I… I'm sorry." I said.

"If I left… what would happen?" I asked him quietly.

"Well, the King has a strong hold on Tamlin now, so he wouldn't be able to do anything unless the King wanted him to," Lucien said, looking relieved at something that shouldn't be good news, but was to him and to everyone else in the mansion.

I was suddenly filled with the need to do something, to complete what I came here to do, which was to take down the court and Tamlin from within.

"Lucien-could you tell me where Alis is right now? I need to go see her," I told him.

"I'm not so sure where they put her but my suspicions would be in the dungeon cells underground," He said.

I hadn't even known that there had been a dungeon here, in the mansion. It truly was a prison, however beautiful it was. He told me where to find it and I left the art studio. On the way, I pondered over Tamlin and what Lucien had just supplied me with. I remembered once when Tamlin had told me he had wanted to rule differently from his father, be a better High Lord than he ever was. But it seemed to me he wasn't doing any of that, and I clenched my fists at the anger that threatened to rise at the fact that Tamlin would never become the person that he could have been because of his overprotectiveness and need to control. It reminded me of Rhys a little, who did wish to have been a better ruler but had actually managed to fulfill that dream or idea.

 _Are you complimenting me, darling?_

 _Maybe._

 _You're not mad that I'm comparing you to him?_

 _It seems like I'm much better than him in your little comparison so no, I'm not mad._

I smiled again, and was hit with the longing and need to be with him again.

 _Soon, Feyre, darling, soon._

 _I miss you, Rhys. When I get back to you-_

 _I'll be welcoming you back with my open arms and tongue._

 _And wingspan._

 _And wingspan._ He chuckled.

I found the entrance and descended it, rendering the two guards at the bottom unconscious and erasing their memory of me. I hid myself in my shadows so no guards passing by on watch would catch sight of me, and felt Rhys grow increasingly worried at every passing moment, every second where someone could catch me using my powers. I shared with him that worry but I had to get to Alis, had to tell her what I needed her to help me with.

I found her a while later, and thankfully, she was alone. I released the shadows on myself slightly so she would be able to see me, but not anybody who passed by.

"Feyre!" She jumped in shock at the sight of me and widened her eyes at the darkness surrounding me. "I had heard you were back-I wanted to come to you but they kept me down here."

"I know, I know. Lucien told me all about what Tamlin wants to do with you." I said.

At that, her brows furrowed. "Lucien? Why would Lucien tell you about me? Isn't he with the High Lord? Or with that King?" Her lips curled in disgust when she said his name.

"Alis…" And then, damn the consequences, I showed her my wings and released the glamour on myself, like I had shown Lucien.

Instead of shock or surprise highlighting her face, she merely stood up and folded her arms. "So me helping you go there wasn't all for nothing. You seem better." She smiled at my appearance.

I was surprised by her and glamoured myself once more. "You knew?"

"No, I didn't. But I suspected something was different about you when you showed yourself to me. You held yourself with such confidence I could tell something had changed in you. So what are you now?" She asked me.

I took a deep breath before telling her. Maybe this would shock her. "I'm the High Lady of the Night Court- and Rhys's mate."

She did not seem any more surprised than when I revealed myself to her. "I always knew you were too good for Tamlin. Does he treat you well, at least?"

 _Very well._

I smiled at her and stopped myself from rolling my eyes at Rhys's remark. "Yes. He's much better than Tamlin is and I'm sure you can meet him for yourself and tell."

"How? And why are you here, Feyre, is this connected to that?" She came closer.

"Yes. I need your help. I know Tamlin is sending you off to the Summer Court."

She waved my remark off with her hand. "I know you know, Lucien told you. What do you want me to do there?"

"You… you want to go back?" I asked her, surprised.

"I know I told you I fled from there, but here's not much better than there is it? I have a feeling being there would be much better than being here, better than being under the scrutiny of the King or his cronies. So tell me, Feyre, what can I do to help you?"

I told her everything I needed her to do for me and the message I needed her to send for me. She nodded through everything, and only asked me one question. "What about you?"

I smiled at her concern for me. "If all goes well, I'll be able to winnow to the Summer Court."

"Do you know how to winnow long distance?"

I paused. "Hopefully, I'll be ready for winnowing that far. Or else I'll have to winnow in parts, which could take time."

"Unless you bring Lucien with you. He could winnow you there. And I have a feeling he'll be coming with you. The guards speak of some mate he found that's in the Night Court?"

"That mate is my sister, Elaine."

Alis's mouth widened into an o. So she was surprised at that.

 _Feyre, you need to go. Now._

 _What is it?_

 _I'm afraid your powers could be attracting… unpleasant company._

 _One of them being Tamlin?_

 _One of them could be Tamlin. He can sense your powers after all, he… knows what your scent is like._

I could practically hear how hard it was for him to spit out those words to me.

"Alis, I need to go," I said, preparing to cloak myself in darkness once more.

"Wait, Feyre." She said, reaching through the bars to grab my arm.

I looked at her, and she nodded once at me. "Until we meet again." She told me.

I nodded back, a farewell for friends, a farewell that spoke of hope and light.

"Until we meet again," I spoke those words back at her and left in darkness and shadows.


	5. Chapter 5

**RHYSAND**

I absolutely adored Feyre. Her plan to use Alis as a messenger to the Summer Court was brilliant. I only had to pass that plan on to the rest of my Inner Circle. Soon-she would be back here soon.

I was getting increasingly worried about Feyre's use of magic. Jurian and the King weren't stupid, they could sense the magic use if they ever went into the dungeons or art studio, like how Jurian had sensed her daemati powers in Tamlin's mind. I could only hope that she would be able to get out before they found anything linking her and the magic.

Before I went to the House of Wind, I went to pick up Nesta, per my promise to Azriel.

"You're late," She snapped at me.

I sighed. "You do realise there's a no winnowing boundary right, so I have to trudge through the snow to get here."

Nesta shrugged," Guess we have to just walk out of that boundary too."

I winnowed her to the House of Wind, feeling that flying should be a privilege saved for Cassian and her.

She stumbled a bit after winnowing and snatched her hand out of mines.

"Still not used to travelling by magic, Nesta?" I chuckled.

She merely snarled at me.

"We couldn't have taken the ordinary way?" She asked.

"We could have if you wanted to but you would have made the trip up ten thousand steps on your own," I said, starting the walk to Cassian's room.

"You fae and your useless traditions," She muttered under her breath.

"I'm actually half fae and half Illyrian. Cassian and Azriel are full bred Illyrians," I told her.

"And how are Illyrians different from fae?" She asked, no hint of curiosity behind her words, just pure neutral.

"They're not different, Illyrians are still fae but… I'm going to let Cas answer that question for you. Let that be a little incentive to calm him down," I said, stopping outside the door to Cas's room.

She snarled at me once more, giving me a glare that could kill. "Ladies first," She said to me.

I liked her fire. I strode into the room, with Nesta following behind me.

Nothing had changed much since the last time I had been here, except now Cas was grovelling in his bed, not on the ground. Destruction once more surrounded him, bits of glass and wood and several other materials littered around.

"Rhys, can't you just leave me alone? And that was cruel of you, going into my head to render me unconscious," He snapped, flinging a lamp at the side of his bed at my face.

I caught it and turned it into dust. He snarled at that trick and tossed his head back, running his claws down the wooden headboard which resulted in more wooden splinters.

I winced at the sound, and Nesta sighed, going over to him and she slapped his hand on the headboard. "Stop that," She demanded. "It's hurting my ears even more than your pathetic wailing."

Only now did Cassian notice her. "Nesta? What are you doing here?"

And just like that, the beast that had been in him a few moments before disappeared.

"Calming you down, apparently. Rhysand told me how badly you were taking your loss of wings but I never realised how horrible that meant. And so please stop flinging things around, I think it's pretty tedious to clean all that mess up," She said.

He sat up, still looking unsure on what to say. "Nesta, I-"

"Save it. How long have you been moping around like this?"

"A week," I supplied.

They both turned to me with glares similar to the one Nesta gave me a few moments before, which clearly said No one asked for your damn opinion. I took that as my cue to leave and so I did, finding Azriel at the side of the door.

"We were right," I told him, shutting the door behind me.

He nodded his head as if to say of course we were and tilted his head at the shut door. "What else did you come here for?"

"Well, other than that brilliant spectacle, I also came here to pass down the plan Feyre came up with to get the alliance we need with the Summer Court and also to get her out."

I told him what Feyre had told Alis and Azriel managed some swear words out at what Tamlin had done to her friend.

"I've never liked that High Lord," He snarled.

"None of us ever have," Cas's voice rang out.

I was surprised at his sudden recovery, mainly in attitude. He now looked like he normally did, except his wings were now bandaged, which I supposed Nesta had helped him with, who was now at Cas's side.

Mor and Amren were at the back of him, walking towards us.

"Feyre deserves to kill him," Mor said.

"And I'm going to help her in that department," I said with a snarl at the back of my throat.

"We all will," Amren told me, "She's also our High Lady after all."

xXx

It had been three days since Alis was supposed to be in the Summer Court and all of us were getting agitated. No word had arrived yet.

"And they say Tarquin's the desperate one," Mor was lounging on the couch as I walked into the hall.

"No, that's what I said," I told her, pointing a finger at myself.

Mor gave me a look and returned to flipping through the book in her hands.

Az winnowed in a few moments later, and once again, his shadows dimmed a little as he caught sight of Mor. They had been playing this little game ever since Mor's family dumped her and she and Cassian had gotten intimate, and you could clearly tell they were in love. But I wasn't stupid enough to get into their business. Feyre had always been the one to do that.

 _I'm not calling you stupid._

I reflexively said into her mind if she could hear me, but only managed to hit her walls of adamant. I had warned her about my suspicions of her using her magic so much and she had shielded herself so extensively since these past three days that there had been no words shared between us, save for feelings of comfort and love passed through from me to her and her to me.

"This note was sent to the Night Court just a few hours before this," Az handed me it.

I read it out aloud, "The Summer Court wishes to invite honoured guests from the Night Court to a dinner tomorrow, to further discuss the political matter. Tarquin."

"What, no RSVP? Dress code?" Mor mumbled.

"Did your scouts notice anything in the Summer Court?" I asked Az.

"Only when Alis was brought in with the two children," He replied.

"Well. At least we finally have news from the Summer Court. So. Cas's not going he's too injured for that AND he was banned a while ago. Amren's not going as she's the only one who can take care of the book and not go mad around it. So which one of you wants to go with me?" I turned to them both, giving them a choice.

They both turned to look at each other and something other passed between their looks. If Feyre were here she would definitely have noted that to me.

"I'll go," Mor decided.

Az looked like he was about to disagree, and closed his mouth at Mor's next words.

"Don't say anything about that Az. I'm not using your recently healed wound as an excuse. I'm Rhys's overseer and the Morrigan so I should most probably follow him, and Amren and Cas would be here so there would be nothing for me to worry about, with the added fact that they would trust me more as I speak the truth. You, on the other hand, still have to watch oversee your network of spies and investigating the courts for any activity. So I'm going with Rhys and that's that," She said, looking pleased with herself.

I nodded at that. "Alright then. I'll just go check up on Amren and Cas to tell them."

"I'll handle Cas. Amren made another discovery in the book I think, you should go talk to her," Mor stood up.

I told her my thanks and went to Amren's room.

She was already waiting for me.

"Mor told me you found something in the book?" I asked her, leaning against the door.

"It's not exactly a key to breaking the Cauldron and its spell but I thought this was important. There's this mention of the Cauldron in here and who can actually wield its power," She told me. "It says this exactly, ' _Beware of the darkness that lurks in its abyss, for the unworthy who yields it will fall to their darkest hours. Only the true of Erinyes will send it to its breaking, have it never return._ '"

I pondered over those words. Something about the Erinyes sounded familiar. "Weren't the Erinyes deities of vengeance or something in the Greek folklore of the mortal realm? We had books like that in the library, I remember reading something like that once."

Amren stilled at my words, and something told me not to go further on the issue. "Maybe you could ask Nesta or Elain on that." She said to me. "Anyway, it seems like whoever doesn't have the proper powers, or enough power, to control the Cauldron and use it will go mad."

"And so you're saying the King has enough power for that?"

"Or he's slowly going mad but doesn't know it yet," She suggested.

I took that as something to think over and also go over with the rest of my Inner Circle once we got back from the Summer Court tomorrow. Hopefully, I would be able to negotiate with Tarquin and get those blood rubies off the three of our heads, while securing an alliance. Something told me if the alliance would mean help in not bringing down the wall, it would be slightly easier to get the former off.

The next night, I dressed in my dark tunic, similar to the one I had shown Lucien when he had tried to take Feyre away that day in the forest. Unruffled and fine, a show of the power that laid underneath.

I met Mor in the townhouse foyer, and she was dressed in a sleek black dress with billowy sleeves, which sparkled like the night sky when she moved. The dress brought out her golden blonde hair quite nicely, although she would probably hit me if I said that to her face.

"Ready?" I held out a hand to her.

She merely rolled her eyes at me and was gone. I had grown accustomed to winnowing Feyre everywhere and had almost forgotten Mor could winnow there on her own. Almost. Sighing and smiling at the same time, I winnowed after her.

The Summer Court hadn't changed in the least. Adriata still looked the same, with palaces and buildings of many turrets and spires and the smell of the fresh, salty air, coming from the ocean and waters surrounding us.

"Welcome once more to Adriata, Rhysand," Tarquin greeted me warily.

I noted a slightly different woman standing once more with the crowd that greeted us. Alis, perhaps? Varian was also there, and I noted a little relief and disappointment in them-that Amren hadn't come this time around, I presumed.

"I see you've brought your cousin this time," Cresseida was once more at the side of Tarquin, greeting us with more scepticism.

"Yes, Mor this is Cresseida, Cresseida, I'm pretty sure you know this is Mor." I introduced them both to each other, no titles needed. However, the way I introduced them to each other made it seem like Cresseida was of a lower status than Mor, and you could see it in her eyes that she had taken note of that.

After the rather awkward reunion session, we were all ushered into the same dining room in the shell-flecked palace like the last time. Only this round, there were no pleasant talk, only cold and calculated discussions.

The wine was poured by the servants, and I was suspicious that this time around it could be poisoned, due to the blood ruby on my head. I checked mines and Mor's with my magic, and there was nothing harmful in the wine, to my relief.

"Alis here has just returned from the Spring Court and she is the reason you were all brought here tonight. If you would please, tell them the message Feyre gave you," He instructed Alis, who was the woman I had deemed different at the introductions.

She didn't seem timid or shy, but rather confident. "She instructed me to tell Lord Tarquin to meet with the Night Court to discuss the matters of the blood rubies and told me it should be done as soon as possible as war with Hybern would be imminent on the Summer Court and the Night Court. She had heard that Hybern was planning to take over the Spring Court to gain better access to this court and therefore easier to take down, and that it would be better for both courts to work together than to be at such unease among the other. She also said that her being there at the Spring Court was forced, that she had no other choice to and that her mind had not been taken over by the High Lord of the Night Court, and that what the High Lord of the Spring Court did was rather dominant and possessive of him."

Just right after that, the first course came, or rather, the appetizer, a lovely lobster bisque.

The information given was just enough to ensure that Tarquin knew that Feyre's trust was placed on him, but she also managed to keep facts about her own self and our court (Like the fact that she was the High Lady of my Court) hidden so nothing would be endangered. And by the Cauldron, of course what Tamlin did was dominant and possessive, if Feyre had not wished it herself I would have wanted to be the one to end him.

"And so what of that? She wants us to work together. I'm pretty sure my assumption on your hesitations on that is true," I said, rather lazily, stirring the bisque half absently.

Cresseida spoke out at that. "And would you call us out to be stupid for having these hesitations? You stole the half of the Book of Breathings from us, which was entrusted to the Summer Court to protect, and injured our guards in the midst of it."

"Your part of the Book of Breathings was needed in apprehending the King and destroying the Cauldron, which threatens to diminish the peace between the fae and the mortals. They already hate us enough as it is, what would they say once more to us walking over there with nothing stopping us from doing so?" Mor asked.

"We do not wish to destroy the wall, Morrigan. Our hesitations now are on your theft. If we asked you to return that half of the Book, would you?" Tarquin inquired.

I paused at that. Cresseida saw that as the answer that had been expected and jumped out at me at that. "Do you see now? An alliance with a court that cannot return what is ours, does not want to return what is ours, what good will it do for us?"

"You know that it is needed for the defeat of the King. If we had asked you, though, would you have freely given the book to us?" I shot this back at her.

She looked like she would rather throw a book at me than answer me. Thankfully, Tarquin answered for her, motioning for the servants to bring in the second course, which was a watermelon salad, for goodness sake.

"You have a reason behind stealing the book, we understand that. And we do want the alliance between us, believe me, we do." At this, Cresseida shot him a look of warning-to not go any further from where he now stood. He still continued, "But you must see it from our side too, you have stolen from us one of the most, if not the most, important relic that has been given to us to protect, and refuse to give it back, and the blood rubies on you would show a poor act if we were to ally with you."

"Why do you refuse to give it back?" Cresseida questioned me.

"The Book has been merged with the other half. Now, my second in command has it in her possession, and she is the only one, I believe, that can read the book and possibly uncover the secrets inside it to use against the King. So no, I cannot separate the book from her to give to you," I told her.

"You've merged the book with its other half? And its secrets, how do we know you will not use it for your own purposes? I-" Cresseida looked like she was going to implode, squishing one of her watermelons on her plate with her fork.

Tarquin once more stepped in. "Then let me negotiate with you. On a show of good faith, I will remove the blood rubies and bounty on your head for an alliance with you, if your second in command would come to the Summer Court and stay here, so we can keep an eye on her when she has the book and technically have it once more back in our possession, and whatever she finds will be shared with us."

I suspected that he, Cresseida and other members of his council would have a hearty talk about this afterwards. And the deal was a good deal, one that would benefit both courts. A removal of the bounty for the book, and for an alliance between the two courts. And for the last step-

"One more thing," Mor drawled, looking at me.

Cresseida glared at her. "What else do you want? Everything is in your favour, and this would only mean you owe us."

"No, Cresseida, it would not. I would like to request for your court to be able to allow my mate to cross your borders and stay here when she releases herself from the Spring Court. In return, the alliance we secure will stay, even after the war." I said, even though my 'request' sounded more like a demand.

Tarquin did not refuse me that. Nor did Cresseida, who was silent at the mention of Feyre, but it was most probably more because she had been abused by Tamlin and needed someplace safe to get out and it would seem like a bad show of hands if she refused than her actually feeling sorry for my mate.

The main course came afterwards, which was a quite delicious seafood pasta, and then dessert, which was a very finely decorated chocolate cheesecake, with political talks and some pleasant talk here and there.

Mor and I left the Summer Court, myself feeling accomplished and that Feyre would be pleased. We now had an alliance and an imminent war at hand. I now had to make sure the armies were ready, and most importantly, get my mate out safely from the Spring Court.

Hey guys! Sorry this chapter took longer to post, I wasn't at home today so didn't get the writing finished from yesterday. Also, I am now on Instagram! My username is thehighfae, do go check it out! Don't forget to send in reviews and give this story a follow J thanks guys, and I hope you enjoyed the story so far!


	6. Chapter 6

**FEYRE**

The nightmares returned after the trip down to the dungeons. Seeing the cells there had reminded me so much of my own under the mountain, and these past five days had been a whirlwind of them. After Rhys's warning, I shielded my mind against his and was thankful I had done so, or he would have known about the nightmares.

I hadn't been prepared for the first one. The first night, I had slept, feeling haunted by the cells but not knowing I would be sucked back into a nightmare. I awoke from Amarantha's torture once more and thank the Cauldron I wasn't in Tamlin's room that night but my own, for I had barely enough time to grasp my surroundings before I vomited on the floor.

The second time it had happened, it was just like the times when I had returned from Under the Mountain. I raced to the bathroom, and spilled my guts out into the toilet bowl, hand clumsily feeling for the flush. I braced myself on the sides of the toilet, feeling nausea. There was no one there to hold back my hair this time, I was on my own. The third and fourth night were exactly the same.

And just a few moments before, I had awoken from one and now laid my head on the window after racing to the bathroom, recalling my nightmare and shuddering. It had been different this time, I had been in Hybern this time around and not Under the Mountain.

 _I watched my sisters being forced under once more. Elain once more rose from the ground, skin glowing, face made into something more beautiful and her ears once more pointed. Nesta was roaring out again, and soon it was her being forced under, the King once more looking unnerved at the finger pointed at him. She came out different, I could sense it, and that wasn't the real nightmare._

 _The true nightmare started after that, when Amarantha walked into the room, alive and well, not dead or mangled after what Tamlin had done to her. My heart skipped a beat, Rhys's arms around me tightening, Tamlin's face pure shock and anger, which mirrored everyone else's other than the King and the guards._

 _I could almost hear the thoughts in everyone else's mind, she put a curse on the whole of Prythian, she enslaved us all, she made a whore, she killed Feyre, she killed me. How was she alive?_

 _She glanced at everyone else briefly before setting her eyes on me and Rhys. Her lips curled into a snarl at the sight and scent on us both, revealing to her that we were mates. Then, turning to Jurian, she looked as if she was about to leap on him and tear his head off but the King spoke._

 _"_ _Amarantha, do come here," The King crooked a finger at her, while smiling at everyone's expressions._

 _"_ _From everyone's expressions, I can tell you all are wondering how this woman beside me is still alive. I'm pretty sure you killed her quite successfully Tamlin, but I just thought Jurian would need some incentive to be better, and to pit them against each other, so I brought them both back to life," He grinned, "And also, of course, to help me end you all."_

 _"_ _No," I breathed._

 _Amarantha looked to the King for permission to speak. He nodded and she smiled and strode over to me. Rhys glared at her and she merely laughed, flicking her hands at me, separating us both and pining me to the wall, choking me. I gasped for air, and fought against the invisible bounds binding me up in the air as she walked closer to Rhys, who snarled at her and said, "Let her go."_

 _"_ _Brave much, Rhysand, without the curse lying on your head. Of course, you are once more without your powers. And you liar. You cunning, stupid, liar, lying to me that you did not care about her, hiding from me your little city of starlight and your friends who would break you if I so much as touched them," She sighed in disappointment._

 _Tamlin leaped at her, once more aiming to kill her but was stopped by the King's powers. "Hurting Feyre was not part of the deal!" He yelled._

 _The King sighed, and motioned to Amarantha. The bonds on me pinning me to the wall suddenly vanished, and I collapsed to the ground, although I still could not move to Rhys or to my family, and my sisters._

 _I could only watch as she forced Rhys's wings open, binding him so he could not move like me, and she looked over to Tamlin. "Would you want to do the honors?" She smiled._

 _I could only watch as he came forward, and screamed at him to stop, to not do what he was going to, screamed when he placed a hand on both of Rhys's beautiful wings and ripped them, my screams a mirror image of his own screams, and Mor's screams, and Cas's and Az's roars of rage at the sight of Tamlin destroying the wings of their High Lord's. The blood that rushed out was much more than Cas's had been, and I realised with horror that Tamlin had not only just torn his wings like Cas's but completely ripped them off from his back, and I realised once more with horror that Amarantha truly wished to and was going to kill them all._

 _Rhys collapsed and the binds on me vanished, and I raced to him, only to be grabbed by Tamlin's bloody hands, and they pulled me to the other side of the room, far away from my family. I grew desperate and brought my right knee up between his legs, causing him to collapse in pain._

 _And then-then, the King drew up the poison in Azriel to his heart. He roared in pain, and Mor-sweet Mor, cried put with him as another arrow was shot, hitting her in the chest, a mirror to Az's wound._

 _And as for Cassian, he was brought to his knees by multiple guards, some which he threw to the wall and killed, and more which he slashed out at and bled to death. However, it was too clumsy as he was weak and wounded and outnumbered, and soon an ash dagger was plunged into his chest, Nesta and I screaming as it happened._

 _I locked eyes with my mate, dying on the ground, and his hopelessness, grief, rage, and sadness mirrored my own's. Amarantha then appeared in front of me from all this bloodshed and raised my chin up with her pointed fingernails. "This is all your fault," She hissed at my face, triumph behind her words. "You should have died that night."_

I had believed it was, right before I woke up, face streaked with tears and the sheets once more aflame and ruined. The nightmare had been so vivid I had believed it to be real and panicked when I awoke before returning to my senses.

Now, looking out at the night sky, I recalled what I had felt yesterday night through the bond. Rhys had felt victory at something, and wariness and the mask of the High Lord before that, so I could assume that it meant that he had managed to get the alliance with the Summer Court-which meant that I could escape there. It had nearly been two weeks since I was here and if I was already feeling so trapped and helpless, I should get out of here as soon as possible, if not to get back to my court then for my health.

The morning soon came, and I watched as the sun rose from the forest, its blinding light beautiful and powerful at the same time. I was much too afraid to go back to sleep, it had once more become my enemy and my fear.

I let the servants dress me again, this time in a pale lilac dress, which had sequins that overlapped like fish scales. The dress ended at knee height at the front and continued downwards to swish around at the back of my heels at the back, yes heels, simple black heels with a buckle. I hated the outfit.

I was surprisingly the first at the breakfast table. And then it didn't turn out to be such a shock as Tamlin walked in with the King and Jurian. What, did they stay here at the mansion now, due to their many frequent visits?

Lucien didn't come in after them, which left me suspicious. Lucien followed Tamlin everywhere (not like a lap dog, more like a friend in the pretense of a bodyguard). But I didn't say anything about it. Yet. I merely ate my food in silence, noting a weird tang in the water. I stopped eating when I realised they were all watching me, not touching their food.

"What?" I asked, putting down my fork.

The King shrugged. "Nothing. Although we would like to know your feelings regarding that Tamlin has just handed partial control of the court over to me."

I almost choked on my water. "What?" I repeated.

Tamlin looked slightly remorseful. "Why would you do that?" I spluttered, shaking my head.

"It was part of the bargain, Feyre, I had no choice," Tamlin said in despondency.

"What partial control then? What control does he have over your court?" I demanded.

"Well, I do have control over all his armies, training, war plans, information, connections, the political powers whatnot, and also control over his lands and what I plan to do with them. Tamlin still has control over his own people, there's that, and he still goes through the social and environmental parts of his court." The King drawled.

I could only shake my head, and chastise myself for thinking he could have at least thought of his court before his deals or bargains or overprotectiveness of me.

"Jurian does have something to ask you, if you would please," The King was looking pleased with himself.

"Feyre, I would very much like to know why you've been hiding your powers from me since the beginning of our training. Your mind powers are the only thing you do not hide, and that's only because I could sense that you had them," His eyes flickered over to Tamlin and back to me and he grinned. I could practically see the blackmail in them.

 _Disobey or lie and your High Lord will know the truth of what you did to him._

My fists clenched underneath the table and I knew I had to get out now, today. "And how would you know that?" I asked, making the question seem like it was out of boredom, like it was nothing.

"You are a High Fae with the powers of the seven courts, did you really think it was imaginable that someone like you would have no progress in what, one week? It was impossible for that to be true, and I felt like you were hiding something from me in every answer you gave, every attempt you made at using your magic," He

"Is that true?" Tamlin asked me in a soft voice, "I understand you might not want have wanted to train or learn your powers, but if Rhys had forced it upon you and you don't want to go back to those times you should have told me, told us."

I almost retched at the thought of that. He still believed I didn't want to train? I had told him after returning from the first week of Rhys's bargain that I had wanted to, but it had been him who had banned it for me, refusing to teach me and threatening Lucien if he ever thought of wanting to even try to train me. But to get myself out of this predicament, and to not make it seem too much of a lie, I went with what Tamlin gave me.

"I-You're right. He did make me train, he unlocked those powers from the seven courts. But…" I hesitated, looking down, as if trying not to recall harsh moments, "He did use some… various methods in getting me to open up to use those powers."

I looked up and saw that Tamlin was close to transforming into the beast he was. He growled and said, "I'm sorry, Feyre, I should have come sooner. If she doesn't want to train, she shouldn't."

"Oh, she won't need to train. Since she's already accustomed to using those powers of hers, we can start with her… help in what you agreed to in the bargain, Tamlin." The King said simply.

Tamlin looked like he was going to tear someone's head off-but said nothing. Why should he, it was his decision, his bargain and he wasn't going to budge but force me off to do this.

"Where's Lucien?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

Tamlin stiffened at that.

"He's preoccupied at the moment," Jurian replied.

Tamlin looked at the King as if to say

 _Let me tell her the truth._

The King sighed and nodded, while Jurian was now the one who looked like he wanted to tear someone's head off.

Tamlin took a breathe and looked at me while speaking, "There was a slip in the servant's quarters relating to how we lost the Summer Court and it seemed like Lucien was involved in it. The Summer Court had been very important to us and that we get them on our side but our sources have said that they are allied with the Night Court, which means that they are now our enemy," He looked lost when he finished.

Fear and guilt filled me. "What does that mean?" I breathed.

"Lucien has been imprisoned. He will be sent back to the Autumn Court tonight," Jurian answered for Tamlin.

I was horrified. This was because of me, Lucien had told me where to find Alis and I had told her what to do to get the Summer Court back on our side. "He's your friend!" I exclaimed, staring daggers at Tamlin.

"He's a traitor to this Court, by the Cauldron, he helped our enemy!" Tamlin spluttered.

"So all those years of him being your friend, all those years where he stood by you, you're throwing all that away. And back to the Court where you said you saved him from, where his family killed his mate and forced him to watch. You're sending him back to where his nightmares lay!" I yelled.

"Calm down, Feyre. And what do you care?" Jurian drawled.

"I care because he's my friend too. Not like you would know, you wouldn't have to have any friends, would you?" I snapped at him and pushed back my chair. "Excuse me while I leave. I need some time to process all of this," I said, not holding back the sting in my words and left.

And as I strode down each hallway, I knew it was up to me, and only me to get out of here with Lucien, no other help at all.


	7. Chapter 7

So now I had to not only get myself out but also Lucien. And if I failed he would be sent back to the one place he hated the most. I wished for my mate's help, my family's help right now, but I couldn't risk it. Too much was at stake.

Would he be in the dungeon? Was I going to go down there and check now? Were Jurian and the King gone now or where they still here? So many questions flitted through my head, so little answers given to me. I had to do this on my own.

I tried winnowing to the dungeon, but found myself just on the outskirts from the entrance. So no one could winnow in- or out, I guessed. Once back inside the dungeon, I cloaked myself in darkness. I went around looking for Lucien but couldn't find him anywhere. Where else could they have taken him?

I heard voices around the corner-Tamlin's, and cursed in my head. Scent- by the Cauldron, he would be able to smell me. I released the darkness on me and put a glamour on myself so I would appear as one of the prisoners. They did smell of magic after all, although it was packed in their cells, the bars were probably made of some magic resistance material, although my powers surpassed that material. I winnowed into one of the empty cells, thankfully there were many. Not many of Tamlin's subjects went against his rule, which once more told me of his controlling and strict behaviour.

I now appeared as a male. The further from my physical traits the better, I thought. The clothing on me was torn and ragged, and like the other prisoners, I glamoured chains on myself and sat on the mattress, turning my back to Tamlin as he passed. He was with Jurian and the King, and they were talking about Lucien.

"You have an underground prison within your underground prison. And I don't suppose you've shared this information with your bride." The King said.

"I've never thought of it as a necessity, for her to know. She's been scarred by her own prison Under the Mountain, if she knew there was one below her home, I don't know how she'll react to it, to me," Tamlin said.

Just like him, to decide what I should know and not, keeping vital information from me. Their voices faded as they went further down, and there was the sound of another door clanging open and shut. So there was another prison in here. One

which kept the more dangerous prisoners, I assumed. I waited there until they left, which was a very long time.

I took a look at my surroundings as I waited. The cell was rather clean, save for dust on the floor. It hadn't been used in a very long time, I suppose. I cleared the dust to the side, thinking it would be suspicious if they saw it and thought that I was a new prisoner, when I so clearly wasn't. The floor was rocky but smooth so that it would be safe for the prisoners' feet as they were barefoot. The bed was hard, of course, and it was just a mattress on the floor with a long piece of cloth to use as a blanket. The toilet was to the left of the cell, and that was the least sanitary part of the cell.

I looked out and tried to look for the door to the prison. I saw it as Tamlin, Jurian and the King were coming out. It was a very cleverly hidden door in the wall, perfectly camouflaging inside. Tamlin's hand lingered on the door, and I realised it would be because the door could only be opened by the High Lord of the Spring Court.

I once more went back to the mattress, back facing Tamlin as he passed. Except this time he didn't. He paused outside the cell, and I could feel his eyes on me.

"Prisoner-turn around." He demanded.

I could only do as he pleased and turned, meeting his eyes. He cocked his head, most possibly going through his memories of where I had come from.

"What was your crime?" He asked.

I quickly thought of a suitable crime that could pass for imprisonment. "The Tithe, my Lord, my family could not pay it and you hunted my parents down for it. I was an only child, you imprisoned me instead of killing me," I mumbled, looking down from his stare.

He was still there, contemplating what I had said. Jurian and the King were in front, and I heard their footsteps growing fainter. They were not waiting for Tamlin. Therefore, I pushed into his mind slightly, planting only very slight changes in his mind.

His thoughts raced around me.

 _Only child? How young must he have been, when did I imprison a child? I don't remember. I don't remember seeing him here yesterday when Lucien was brought in, who is he?_

My suggestions changed those thoughts.

 _You remember me. You chose not to see me and ignored me when you walked past me. My parents begged you to spare me, you did, for you couldn't kill a child._

 _Yes, I remember now. His parents made it their last wish for me to spare their child._

He then shook his head and nodded before making his way away from my cell.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding after he left. I wished I felt a slight bit of guilty about what I had done but felt nothing.

The chains clinked against each other as I walked to the front of the cell and I sent them away with a wave of my hand. Removing the glamour on myself, I winnowed out of the cell, making sure I was cloaked in darkness to hide from other prisoners before making my way over to the hidden door. This would be the hard part. To act like Tamlin, to be Tamlin, I would not be able to use the darkness from the Night Court to hide. If anyone went pass, I would be caught so this had to be quick.

I removed all of the powers on myself, preparing for the drainage of my powers once more like when I was retrieving the Book of Breathings in the Summer Court. Being the High Lady of the Night Court also meant that is would be much more difficult to pose as the High Lord of another court.

Placing my hand on the wall, I felt it question me, similar to the locks in the Summer Court.

 _I am Tamlin, I am spring, I am the flowers and waterfalls, I am the birds and butterflies and pollen and trees._

I didn't have to shift into Tamlin, but I still had to put every inch of him into pretending to be him. No- not pretend, I would be him. I was his every lie, every touch, every rustle of hair whenever he was frustrated about something, I was him.

I gasped as there was once more the drainage, but not as powerful as the one I had experienced in the Summer Court. It left me momentarily breathless as I felt the door give way and entered quickly.

My eyes adjusted to the lighting of the room beyond the door. It was fairly dark, with only a few lanterns on the walls, a stairwell to my left and a hallway that stretched to the front in darkness. I heard voices coming from the hallway- guards- and attempted to once more cloak myself. However, something blocked my powers and it queerly reminded me of the wall that had blocked all of our powers that day at Hybern. Could this be his doing or Tamlin's own spell? If it was Tamlin's doing, it would mean that this hidden prison housed the more dangerous prisoners, the ones whose magic needed to be blocked for someone like Lucien.

I quickly went over to the stairwell and tried to use my powers there, but found out that nothing worked, except for the Spring Court's powers.

"-wonder what the High Lord will do about it, and him." I heard one of the guards say.

"And all for that newly born High Fae," the other guard scoffed.

"She did break the curse, Fanom, at least there's that. But I also heard that she's the mate of the High Lord of the Night Court, from the servants' quarters," the first guard said in a hushed tone.

The second guard-Fanom, laughed. "Well good luck to her! She'll need it, and whatever pity she gets."

I gripped the bottom of the railing of the stairwell tightly, fury resonating in me. Even the servants in the Spring Court were talking about me and Rhys. I could almost hear his words at that moment, if he had been in my head.

 _Breathe, Feyre. Breathe._

I did. But I had to hide the chuckle that threatened to come out of my throat at the irony of the situation, me getting angry at two guards' insults when it would normally be Rhys who would have torn them apart already.

After the guards left, I headed down the hallway they had come from. They had spoken about a _him_ and so I assumed they had been talking about Lucien.

I found multiple doors down the corridor as I went further down. I checked every one of them and found that all but one was vacant. The lock was once more only to be unlocked by Tamlin, but this time, all it took was for me to imagine myself as spring and the door clicked open, revealing to me that Lucien, indeed, was inside.

The cell looked similar to the ones upstairs, except there was no hint of magic, nothing to give away that the cell was holding someone with fae heritage. He was seated on the floor, chains around his arms, head looking downwards.

"Lucien," I whispered.

He snapped his head up and recoiled when he saw me. "What are you doing here? Are you seriously this crazy, Feyre, you need to go," He hissed.

"I'm not leaving without you," I told him stubbornly.

"No, it's a trap, Feyre. They're luring you here and I'm the bloody bait," He said. "Once you touch me- it'll set off an alarm, alerting Tamlin and he will come down here and he will see you."

I shrugged. "Then I just have to make sure I don't touch you," I said, treading around him to where his chains were lodged in the wall.

"Are you sure you can-" He broke off as I ripped the chains away from the wall, assisted with the strength of a High Lady.

I smiled as I tossed the chains aside, nearly sending Lucien sprawling to the ground. He scowled at me as I came closer and broke the chains away from his hands. I carefully took my hands away from his and watched as he tugged them off.

"So, tell me. What would you say to a trip to the Summer Court?" I asked him casually.

He stumbled-actually stumbled and gaped at me. "What?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm serious," I told him. "I need you to help me get to the Summer Court- and I was hoping you would stay. To meet Elain." I didn't mention also because it appeared that he was no longer welcome in the Spring Court. I feared it would hurt his feelings- he had considered the Spring Court as his home for decades. And now- just one misstep because of me- he was considered an enemy of this court. This did trigger guilt in me.

He didn't meet my eyes for a while, and when he did, they were full of such hope that I regretted ever second guessing him for Elain. "I-" He took a step towards me. "Thank you. I think… I think I would like that very much," He said, and smiled at me. It was so bright at the thought of meeting his mate that I took a step towards him and brushed my fingertips on his shoulder, prepared to tell him how much he would mean to Elain.

Both of us realised our mistake the moment my fingertips had barely left his skin. He moved back- but it was too late.

I cried out as something crackled from his arm, from his whole form, and flowed into me and something from me flowed out, and it hurt like hell. The magic that had caused that to happen weakened me and I realised it was also dampening my powers as the High Lady. I nearly collapsed and gasped for breath.

"By the Cauldron, Feyre, you never listen to anything I tell you," Lucien chastised, almost in a joking manner but his eyes were filled with worry and panic.

"Let's just… go," I gasped out, "Before he comes back down."

He nodded and looked me once up and down to make sure I was really okay, and when I nodded at him, we left the cell.

We went back the way I had come. "Tamlin," Lucien hissed, gesturing to the stairwell, and I hid there with him once more.

"How did anyone get in?" He stormed into the prison, yelling at the two guards who had been gossiping about me before.

"There was no one here, we swear," one of them- not Fanom- stuttered.

"Take me to him," Tamlin demanded and they obliged, both of them following him.

I gestured to Lucien to follow after they were gone and exited the underground prison to the one above it. I had already cloaked Lucien and me with my shadows, although it was weak enough that whoever was looking for me or Lucien and expected me there would be able to see through it- faintly. I turned to the hallway that would lead me and Lucien out as we couldn't winnow out.

I found myself staring at the King instead.

Hey guys! So sorry these last two chapters have been draggy, I'm preparing for the next chapter which will be good, I promise you. School just started for me and it's harder to find time to write but I promise to you guys I will at least update within two or three days, and will try my best to update everyday. Sorry that this chapter is also a little bit shorter I promise the next chapter will be longer :)


	8. Chapter 8

"What a pleasure to see you here, Feyre. I noticed you picked out something on your way in," The King smiled.

I took a step back and hit the chest of Jurian, who gripped my arms tightly.

Lucien took a step forward to help me, I presumed, but hesitated when he remembered that his touch was deadly to me.

I rolled my eyes at his protectiveness and snatched my arms away from his grasp with a rather large amount of strength. The surprise showed on his face.

"So you can unlock doors like that," The King mused. "I suspected that day you came in with the book in your possession, that there was a way or something you used to unlock the doors that only High Lords could open. All along you were the key. Both literally and figuratively," He chuckled.

I started to take a step towards Lucien but Jurian blocked my way. "Don't leave so soon. I'm sure your High Lord would like to know what you've been doing down here, and how your powers would be very useful to us when breaking down the wall."

I locked eyes with Lucien who was still behind Jurian and my eyes portrayed what I was going to do. He nodded and I gave a saccharine smile to Jurian and said, "I'm sure Tamlin would like to, but I know what I want and sorry but that's not what he wants. So if you'll excuse me," And I winnowed near the entrance of the prison, Lucien following close behind.

The guards there shouted as they saw us but I rendered them unconscious with a single thought into their minds.

We hurried upstairs where we saw more guards coming down the hallway in our direction.

"Can you winnow us to the Summer Court from here?" I asked Lucien.

He nodded and hesitantly held out a hand. "You'll have to touch my hand for that."

"Can I break the spell on you, then?" I asked.

"I'm pretty sure you could but it would take time," He told me with his unspoken words. Time which we didn't have.

So, gritting my teeth, I gripped his hand. I gaped as I felt the drainage and tightened my hold on his hand so I would not release it by accident.

He quickly winnowed us out and the darkness seemed to go on forever, the pain flaring through. We ended up in a meadow which looked like it belonged in the Spring Court instead of Summer, and like the meadow I had seen during my short trip to where Calanmai had been held.

I withdrew my hand quickly from his grasp and immediately felt like spilling my guts out on the floor, or slip into unconsciousness. Lucien cursed as he took in my surroundings.

I tried to gasp out words but only mumbled breaths came out. He noticed and winced at the sight of me trying to catch my breath on the ground.

"Where… are… we?" I managed out.

"We're not in the Summer Court. We're still in the Spring Court. Tamlin must have put a shield up around the borders," He said.

"I can… break… it," I said, slowly catching my breath.

"You're too weak, the spell just took away most of your powers from you," Lucien insisted.

I glared at him. "Please don't ever say that to me again. Lucien, I'm not a human anymore. She died when I was brought back, when I was changed into a High Fae."

He had the cheek to say, "I don't know, sometimes you still have the traits of your humanity. A little carelessness here, a dash or recklessness there…"

I scowled. "Prick," I snapped at him.

"Well, go for it. And hurry. I'm pretty sure Tamlin is going to show up soon."

I nodded and walked over to where the border was and reached out a hand. I felt the shield- very similar to the one that had locked me in the mansion. Sure, this shield covered a much larger area but it was still a prison that I was trapped in nonetheless.

I hadn't ever taken down a shield before, especially one this big. Maybe I could somehow create a hole in it, large enough for Lucien and me to pass through in time before it recovered itself.

I closed my eyes and imagined my finger, now trailing the shield, were a pair of blades, sniping through the material, burning a hole in it. I imagined how it would collapse on itself and vanish. I put all of my will into the shield, now putting all of the anger I felt towards Tamlin into it, the betrayal and the feeling to just destroy. And the love- the love I felt for Rhys, for Mor, Amren, Cassian, Azriel, for my sisters, my family, even Lucien.

I couldn't feel it working and it was getting tiring as my powers had been temporarily drained and what was left it was being used for the shield. But no. I was the child of the seven courts, with the powers of all the seven High Lords. I would not be so easily defeated by a shield created by the High Lord who had once understood me, who I had once loved and once someone who I would have done anything for.

I poured everything into it, ice crackled in me and it contrasted with the fire running in my veins. The light and the darkness shone through me and out of my hands and I felt the warmth, the Sun, the autumn leaves and its change of colours in every phase, the flowers and the scent of them like perfume.

And then the whole shield came down. Not just one hole in it but the whole thing was destroyed.

When I turned back to face Lucien, his eyes were widened. "You sure you didn't overdo it?"

I hesitated. "Maybe a little," I raised my shoulder and smiled.

"Let's go," He said, once more reaching out his hand.

I had started making my way towards him but was knocked back by another force.

"Feyre?" Tamlin whispered.

"Feyre- what are you doing?" He asked again, voice a bit louder now and stalked towards me.

I pulled myself to stand upright and held out a hand to stop Tamlin from coming any closer. "Don't touch me," I snarled.

His eyes widened and there was a flash of hurt on his face.

"Did Rhys take your mind again? Feyre, I know you're still in there, fight him-"

"Enough, Tamlin! Enough! Stop with all of your useless words and with your promises that you never keep! I've had enough of your lies and what you've forced me to go through. You sat on the sidelines every time I risked my neck for you and everyone else and you don't fight for me. You've never fought for me. You've never thought of my own choices and decided things for me since the beginning. But that was for the human Feyre. She died that night Under the Mountain. What came back, who came back was no longer her. You have your full powers back now and you're different with them. Which makes me wonder whether I loved recklessly with you or not, whether I simply fell in love with the first thing here that showed me the first signs of kindness," I exclaimed, and I realised that when the first of my words came out, I couldn't stop the waterfall that followed it.

His face contorted into a furious expression.

"Feyre, you're coming back with me now," He growled.

" _No_ ," I snarled back.

"Rhysand is doing this to you. Feyre, come back! Please. I promise you, I will do everything I can to make him pay for what he's done. The Dawn Court is already on our side and so will the Autumn Court after they've heard of what Lucien has done. Please, Feyre, we can take down the Night Court and its High Lord together, and this city he's been keeping from us all," He pleaded.

My heart skipped a beat. Those mortal queens had sold out Velaris to the King, and he had told Tamlin about it. They would be the next on our list to hunt down. Then, fury raged in me as he spoke about destroying MY court, my home, Velaris, my mate, and it grew until I could no longer hide underneath my glamour.

I could feel my wings spreading out behind my back, and felt delighted at the sight of the tattoo on my right arm, together with the release on my aura of the High Lady.

Tamlin stumbled back a few steps and looked horrified. His eyes darted up and down, sensing something other than just the physical traits I had shown.

"What did he do to you?" He gaped at me.

"He didn't do anything. This is who I am, and I can clearly see that you don't accept that. You never will. You trapped me in that house-"

"I'm sorry for that, I-"

"Yet you didn't do anything other than your half-hearted apologies. When I returned, did you think I wouldn't notice the amount of guards prowling under my bedroom window, the guards that patrolled the hallways that lead to my room? And when we returned from Under the Mountain, you never noticed. You _never_ noticed how I was breaking, how I was broken. I was plagued with nightmares every night, and still am, and you never noticed. I was miserable here, Tamlin, and you took me away from the one place where I wasn't, where I felt like I belonged. I could barely bring myself to do anything, and all you responded with was putting me in those monstrous dresses, never understanding what I truly needed. Until Rhys. He brought me to his home and at first, yes, I did want to leave and hated every second of being there. But as the days passed and each time I returned there and stayed there after the fiasco you caused, I felt at home. I felt like I was understood there, and that I had choices there," I said, and pushed him down with a push of my hand when he opened his mouth to say something. He looked surprised that I could keep him down and struggled against it.

"Don't fight it, Tamlin. I'm much more powerful than you," I said, stalking towards him. "And do you know why? Not only because of me having the powers of all the seven courts, but also because I am the High Lady of the Night Court, something you said was impossible. Well, it clearly isn't, which is something else you lied to me about," I continued.

"And you've never been lied to by Rhysand? Everyone has secrets, Feyre, no matter what you say or believe."

" _Do not_ speak to me about Rhys. You have no right to," I snapped at him, "In fact, you have no right to assume anything about me or what goes on in my life, or my family. My family who I met and adore, who you nearly killed, and my real family who your trusted High Priestess sold out. So I don't think I will ever truly be sorry about this."

And I lashed out with my mental claws. I forced his shields open, dug a hole so deep in them and made sure I still had the entrance open to me. I shaped his mind to follow my commands, I now controlled him and he was my puppet. When I was done with him and after all had settled down, after peace finally returned after this war with Hybern, I would crush his mind like a grape. Now, he would help me and my court to gain the information we needed.

He was now staring off into space, his mind and body fully controlled by me. It still felt wrong to do something like this, to force someone like this but he had done a similar thing to me, and this was how I would take this court down, bring it to its knees, from the inside. This wouldn't do, though, he had to act normal for this to work.

 _You will act normal like nothing has changed. You will tell the King and Jurian that I escaped before you managed to apprehend me, and you will hide the fact that something has been changed in your mind if Jurian or anyone else senses it. You will report to me every day on what you three plan on doing, everything essential and everything you learn. Find any way of means to report to me, notes which you can transport to me, I don't care what as long as I get your reports. And if I reply with a question, you will answer and destroy every means of communication between us and hide it from anyone._

"Do you understand?" I asked him quietly.

He nodded.

"Good. Go back now. And forget this ever happened."

He followed my instructions and vanished a few moments later, leaving me alone with Lucien. He was currently looking at me with expressions I didn't know he could create.

"Close your mouth, Lucien, your tongue is lolling out of it," I regarded with laughter.

He scowled, something that was so Lucien, so normal that I wanted to giggle and had to stop myself from doing so. So normal, even after everything we had both been through. I wondered how he had fared here with Ianthe after I had left, and I felt a pang of guilt especially knowing that Ianthe had most probably choked him near to death with her desires.

"We should go," I said.

He nodded and stood, walking over to where I stood.

"I would never want to get on your bad side," He muttered.

"You were always on my bad side," I told him, giving him a look.

"Yet you haven't done anything to me yet, you must rather enjoy my company," He grinned.

"If I have to call you a prick one more time…"

"I think you have to."

I was the one who scowled this time and carefully held his hand, wincing at the flares of pain shooting through me. The winnowing was dreadfully slow this time, each second in the darkness bringing another jolt of pain, stripping away my powers, rendering me unable to heal until I was free of the touch.

We finally landed in the Summer Court, in the dining room I had been brought to when I first came here. This time, I did collapse on the floor, shuddering at every breath.

I could barely hear Lucien above the rush in my ears, the blood pounding furiously through my veins, calling my name.

A while later, I could hear a bunch of voices outside the room, and it faded away to silence when they entered the room.

A pair of footsteps thudded towards me and I felt warmth and just pure bliss at something. I felt arms gently hoisting me up, cradling me against their chest. As I looked up, I found myself gazing into beautiful violet eyes.


	9. Chapter 9

Rhys.

It was him, it was Rhys, he was here.

"Feyre," He breathed, placing a kiss on my forehead.

I reached out with my hand and traced his cheek. He frowned as he saw my breathlessness and felt my pain through the bond. "What happened?" He asked me gently.

When I couldn't answer him and only managed out wheezes, he turned to Lucien. "What happened?" He repeated.

Lucien shifted from foot to foot, looking like the wrong word he said about me would cause his head to be torn, or his mind to be crushed to bits. "Tamlin placed a spell on me which stripped away someone's powers if they touched me," He said, and quickly added, "And no, I didn't touch your mate by force I had to winnow her here."

I wheezed out again with another chuckle which soon turned into a coughing fit. Rhys's darkness enveloped me, soothing me and I immediately felt better.

"Let's move to somewhere much more suitable, shall we?" Tarquin said, stepping forward.

I smiled at him and he smiled back, although it didn't quite meet his eyes. "It's a pleasure to meet you again, Feyre, although I wish it was under better circumstances."

I winced as I remembered our last ordeal here and wished I could speak at the moment. I was pretty sure only gargled words would come out and that wouldn't be the mask or face I should show here. I merely nodded at him and still with my arms around Rhys, peered over his shoulder to see who else was there.

To my surprise, Amren was right behind Rhys and she grinned at me. "It's nice to see you again. I kind of hate to admit this but I missed your company," She told me.

I grinned back.

"Cresseida? The main hall?" Tarquin asked.

She nodded and we went out of the room, Rhys still carrying me in his arms. Here, I could lower my shields and I sent my thoughts into his mind.

 _How are you here?_

 _You don't like my company, darling?_

 _I can't help it if you're a prick at times._

I felt his smile.

 _We made a deal to secure the alliance by returning the Book- in a way. Amren will be staying here with the Book and continuing her investigation here as she's the only one who can actually handle being around the Book, as you know, and will be supervised by Tarquin and his council._

 _And you're not worried about that? That Tarquin will know all the information that Amren finds out, including how to free Amren and get her back to where she belongs, if it even is in the book?  
_

_Amren can take care of herself and hide the facts pretty well. The only information Tarquin needs to know is about the Cauldron and how to defeat Hybern, not personal issues about Amren. And anyway, I'm more worried about you._

 _Me or the lack of me?_

He purred into my mind.

 _Oh, both. And trust me, I'll make it up for the weeks we've lost. I've had many days, many hours, minutes and seconds to think of what I'm going to do._

Heat rose in me and I now only realised how badly I wanted Rhys. It had been far too long since I've had his mouth on mine, or between my legs.

A low chuckle resonated in my mind.

 _Don't tempt me to take you here now._

 _What if I said I wanted you to?_

 _Then our hosts would most likely be mortified by the events after._

I laughed in his mind and we entered a lavish suite-like room. The walls of the main hall were adorned with beautiful paintings by artists I recognized and by artists who were new to me. The ceiling was made from a beautiful glass material which sparkled at every angle due to the Sun and there was a round table directly beneath the middle of the glass ceiling. Many plush cushions and couches were piled around the room, both to lay down on or simply kneel and lounge down on. Although the sunlight spread throughout the room, there was a light breeze which cooled the air.

Several doors lined the sides of the room which I suspected lead to meeting rooms or weapon rooms, or was a mere connective door to the many other rooms in the palace.

Rhys settled me down on one of the couches.

"At midday, when the sun is at its highest, it shines a sort of beacon on the round table, bathing it in a glow. That's the time when we normally have inner meetings here, the sunlight causes us to be more in our element and we like the representation of the court," Cresseida explained.

Tarquin called for a servant to bring us water and refreshments and a concoction from their healer for me that would help my healing process.

Lucien looked very awkward in our midst. "I promised Lucien I would break the spell on him," I murmured, pulling myself to a seating position from lying on the couch.

Rhys stopped me. "Let me," He said, looking into my eyes for confirmation.

I understood his worry for me and also understood how Rhys breaking the spell would be much more efficient than me doing it. I nodded and he went to Lucien who looked especially uncomfortable that Rhys was going to break the spell for him.

I could feel Rhys smirk and he said, "Calm down, Lucien, I'm not going to pry your mind open."

He waved his hand at Lucien and I could feel concentration rippling off in waves from him. There was a faint glow appearing from Lucien and I watched as it slowly dimmed, appearing to trace downwards to his feet and disappear into the ground.

Lucien shuddered as the magic left him and stumbled a few steps back.

"Is it gone?" I asked.

"Have a little faith in me, Feyre," Rhys purred, turning to face me. "It's gone."

"Nasty, nasty spell," Amren muttered.

I smiled as I remembered that those were the similar words she had spoken when I had unlocked the door to get the Book of Breathings.

"So, are you going to tell us what you did in the Spring Court? You were supposed to infiltrate it, I suppose. Correct me if I'm wrong but two weeks. Two weeks would have been far too little time to do something worthwhile there, I believe," Cresseida mused.

I gritted my teeth and faced her, giving her a glare that would shake even the strongest of Prythian. She soon shied away from my face, guilt colouring her cheeks. "Two weeks was enough for me. I got what I wanted to do in those 14 days and I went through being there while I was at it. I lied and cheated and almost fucked my way out of it so I'm correcting you here, Cresseida, on that," I snarled, "And as for infiltration, Tamlin is now under my control. He will report to us every day on what occurs in the Spring Court and what Jurian and the King plan on doing. As for now, you can consider the Autumn Court and the Dawn Court your enemies. They're not on our side."

Everyone was staring at me with mixed expression on their faces. Most were of guilt and wariness, mostly from Tarquin and his council, and there were looks of delight and satisfaction on Rhys and Amren.

I sighed and tossed my head back. "Sorry, I'm just… really tired right now."

 _You don't have to apologise. What you went through- what you did- was enough. I'm pretty sure you've done everything you were able to._

 _I know, I know. But what Cresseida said was somewhat right. What if I came back not because I had finished doing what I had to but because I couldn't handle it anymore? What if I hadn't actually done much?_

 _Please. You've taken control of Tamlin, darling. And although I already want to rip him to shreds for what he did to you, he'll know true violation this way._

His delight and triumph mirrored mines.

xXx

I was grilled on the incident at the Spring Court until it felt like second nature to explain the details, and had been fussed over by Rhys until even Amren was rolling her eyes at us.

The concoction from Tarquin had helped a lot but it still didn't stop the waves of exhaustion that hit me. Thankfully, we were done for the day and I didn't protest when Rhys gathered me in his arms again and winnowed us to our room in the palace.

He gently laid me on the bed and my heart melted at his gentleness, at the look of love and longing in his gorgeous violet eyes. He laid next to me on the bed and looped an arm around my waist, tucking his head into the crook near my shoulder. His other hand traced circles on my back and I sighed as he kneaded the tension away from my shoulders. Turning around so I faced him, he placed a hand on my cheek and softly caressed it with his thumb, and I leaned into his touch.

"I missed you- every single day- and I was so worried about you," He whispered, gazing into my eyes.

"I know," I whispered back, "I was missing you every day too. I wanted to come home every day to you- to my family."

"You're here now," He murmured, leaning in to press a kiss on my collarbone, resulting in a slight hitch in my breathing," And that's all that matters."

I lowered my forehead to meet his and saw the flickers of desire in his eyes. He started to trace my neck with his lips and tongue, leaving behind a trail of fire. I gasped and buried my hands in his hair. His lips moved upwards and found mines, slipping his tongue in. He tasted of starlight and darkness. I moaned against him and we pressed against each other more, stopping only once to catch our breath.

My hands fumbled at the bottom of his shirt and his lips- Cauldron, his lips- distracted me too much. I snarled against his mouth and ripped his shirt open. He paused and leaned back, a smirk highlighting his features. "I liked that shirt," He murmured, and I saw only a glint of his claws before my dress- the monstrosity I was still wearing- was torn and he pulled it, the dress wrenching away from my body, leaving me exposed to him.

He snarled at me and leaned back down, lips moving on my exposed nipple. I cried out and grabbed his back, most probably drawing blood from having clawed at it. His hand slowly moved down and he paused from pleasuring me to cup the bundle of nerves between my legs, hissing at the wetness he found.

"What do you want, Feyre?" He breathed, fingers lazily caressing the insides of my thigh and in between.

I gasped out as he pressed a finger down on the centre of my wetness.

"You," I managed out, "Please, Rhys, I-"

I didn't manage to finish my sentence before his finger went inside of me, pumping ever so slowly. I moaned and raised my hips up, wanting more, needing more. He added a finger and went faster, and I was nearing my climax, nearing the fall off the edge of the cliff- when he stopped and withdrew.

Panting, I gave out cries of protest before he hefted himself up, making me watch as he slowly, torturously slowly, unbuckled his belt and flung his pants to the other side of the room. I tried to rise, wanting to undress him myself but he snarled at me and pushed me back down onto the bed, leaving me filled with the need and agony of his taunts and little game.

He tossed aside his underwear next and my throat dried up at the sight of his hardness waiting for me. My eyes traced Rhys's body upwards until I was staring at his face. He grinned at me. "Like what you see?" He smirked.

"Why don't you show me more?" I asked, smirking back at him.

He growled and crawled up the bed to me, kissing me fully on the mouth again. I moaned and he stopped, leaving me gasping for him. Without even knowing, he plunged himself into me and I cried out, eyes rolling at the pleasure and pain at the same time. My hands fumbled at the sides of the bed, feeling for something, anything, to grip. Rhys's hands met mines and I clutched it, gripping it tightly.

"Feyre-" Rhys groaned as he went even faster.

I gasped out Rhys's name and he pummelled into me even further, even deeper and his other hand traced downwards and stroked the bundle of nerves between my legs.

That was my release. I cried out as my climax tore through me, shuddering at every second. Rhys came with me and he cried out my name, continuing to pump into me at my every shudder, gently guiding me through my aftershocks.

Afterwards, he held me in his arms and stroked my hair as we went to sleep.

"I love you," He whispered, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

I tilt my head upwards, smiling at him. "I love you too," I whispered back.


	10. Chapter 10

_Gone were the beautiful scenery of Velaris. The once smooth cobblestones were now slick and slippery with the blood of the innocent and bodies were scattered throughout the city._

 _I turned to the other side and the same view greeted me- except now there was someone lying at my feet. I stifled my gasp and kneeled down, gently pushing the corpse onto its back._

 _The body had been mangled from the neck down but I would still recognise those eyes everywhere. The stark blue-green of my eyes stared back at me, lifeless and glassed over. I cried out and stumbled backwards, tripping over and knocking into another corpse._

 _I turned and was faced with a mountain of bodies. It was filled with the local people I had met in Velaris, I recognised the woman I had saved in the Rainbow, the shopkeeper that had served us food and even the two faeries I had murdered Under the Mountain. And- right on top- not only my body but also Rhys's and the others of the Inner Circle, my sisters, my family, even poor Lucien._

 _Amarantha once more appeared in front of me and I stilled at the sight of the ash knife in her hand. I snarled at her and attempted to use my powers against her but they were once again blocked. She grinned at me with a wicked gleam in her eyes and in a flash, she held the ash knife against my throat, drawing blood and pain and pure agony._

" _You will join them soon enough. Seems fitting that you die in the same way, share the same fate as those other innocent faeries you killed during my rule," She said, laughing wickedly at me and dug the knife even deeper._

 _I tried to escape from her grasp but she held me close, her powers willing my arms and legs to still. I felt the blade enter my throat and cutting through veins and arteries and the blood filling up my throat. I felt her hot breath mingling with mines as she whispered to me, "I'll see you in hell." I felt the blood rising up and spluttering out of my throat as I tried to scream, tried to cry out, I felt it, felt the pain and the torture and the wrongness of it all-_

xXx

"Feyre, Feyre, Feyre," A familiar voice shouted through the darkness I was enveloped in.

I gasped and shot upwards, tears streaking down my face.

"It was just a nightmare," He said, soothing me as he pulled me in close and tucked me into his arms, rocking me back and forth.

Oh gods, I thought I could have hid the nightmares from him but of course it wouldn't. He was my mate, we wouldn't hide anything from each other. Which didn't do anything to calm me down it only increased my guilt and nausea. He cared so much, he had done so much for me, did I actually deserve him? For all the love he had shown me, for how he had saved me from even myself.

I grew even sicker and pushed Rhys off, darting off to the bathroom, spilling my guts into the toilet bowl. I felt his hands pull back my hair gently and his hands rubbing circles on my back, soothing me as I vomited the previous night's dinner out.

I shuddered after every breath I took, trying to calm myself down.

"When did it start?" Rhys asked quietly.

I stilled, mentally preparing for what he was going to say to me after I told him the truth.

"About five days ago," I murmured.

The hands drawing circles on my back came abruptly to a halt.

"When you started shielding your mind against me," He said softly, more of a statement than a question.

I nodded slowly. He didn't say anything and I could tell he was thinking. I stood up, his arm still around me, guiding me and washed my face in the sink, rinsing my mouth.

"Rhys?" I asked softly.

I had been prepared for anything, any snarky remarks he could have given me, but not this silence. I wasn't ready for this silence from him and could only feel a slight tinge of disappointment through the bond.

"Rhys, please. Say something," I pleaded.

"What am I supposed to say?" He snapped, running his hand through his hair. "I know you get to make your own decisions and everything but you're still my mate, the person I trust the most."

"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to be even more worried about me than you already were," I tried to explain, "I didn't want to make myself even more of a burden than I already was-"

"Feyre. You're never a burden. Don't ever think that," He said, hooking my loose hair behind my ear. "Just- why didn't you tell me?"

I hesitated only for a mere second but I'm pretty sure Rhys noticed that, as I sensed the concern and once more sadness through the bond.

"The nightmares- they were different this time. They were mostly of the people I loved dying now and Amarantha was still there. I-" my voice broke for a while.

I steadied myself again before continuing. "I saw your corpse, Rhys. And mines next to yours although I wasn't in that body. And the rest of the Inner Circle was dead there too, including my family, everyone I ever cared about were dead! And I kept hearing these things that it was all my fault, everyone was dead because of me and I myself was dying. I could feel the knife and blood as she stabbed me, I-" I was once more a sobbing wreck.

"Hey, hey," Rhys murmured, pulling me close to him and holding me against him, "It's not your fault. Nothing is. But like I said before, you'll feel that way for the rest of your life. But I'm not dead, you are not dead and the people you care about aren't dead too. Amarantha is dead, however, and she's gone and will never do anything to harm you ever again. I wouldn't let her."

I pulled away from him to see his face. "Or you. She won't ever abuse you ever again too. I wouldn't let her." I said, repeating his words back to him.

He nodded and leaned in to press a kiss on my forehead. The tightness in my chest eased off a little and I sighed as we parted. However, before we could return to the bedroom, I noticed these little smudges on my hands.

Frowning, I removed my hands from Rhys's neck- quite reluctantly, I add- and inspected the smudges much more closely.

"Are those words?" He asked, peering over my shoulder.

"I'm not sure, I can't exactly see-" I broke off as the smudges cleared and sharpened to clear words.

I looked up at Rhys and he smirked. "Even with your impeccable reading, I don't think you would even have been able to look at whatever that is."

"And by your mention of 'whatever that is', I'm assuming you didn't manage to grasp whatever those smudges were too," I retorted and returned to brooding over the message.

I heard Rhys stifle a chuckle and rolled my eyes.

"It's a message- from Tamlin," I noted and read it out loud.

 _Jurian and the King are on a rampage over losing you. The slight control they had over the mansion and the court has extended to full control although they tell me I still have full rights over everything. The Dawn and Autumn Court are confirmed to be on Hybern's side and the King is using their connections to persuade the Day and Winter Court to join their side. They are readying all the three courts' armies and are planning to infiltrate the Night and Summer Court. They are also planning something else involving you, although they aren't sharing it with me. My council has heard bits, something about control and leverage._

"What, do they mean to kidnap me?" I asked.

"They would be insane to try that. Your powers would protect you. And I'm pretty sure my own wingspan would protect you," He smirked.

"You sure that's all your wingspan can do?" I grinned.

"I can show you what you mean by that," He continued, prowling over to me.

I held out a hand and pressed it against his chest, stopping him from going any further. Leaning forward to be closer to his face, I whispered, "Maybe later." And smiled at the desire in his eyes.

"Anyway…" I drawled, leaning back from him, "Speaking of our powers. There's the problem of how the King can block our powers, especially if we're not in our court."

"Our court. I like how you say that," He purred. "And if you're that worried, we can go back tomorrow. I was supposed to anyway, before you had your beautiful dramatic entrance."

"And Amren?"

"I'm pretty sure Varian would be able to keep her company," Rhys smiled. "Maybe now you can take me up on the wingspan offer?"

I smiled and strode over to him. "Maybe now."

I leaned in to kiss him and started to wrap my hands around his neck, but was interrupted by a cough starting in my throat.

The cough increased to a horrible hack and I kneeled over, panting and gasping for breath between coughs. It was extremely painful to cough now and I felt like my lungs couldn't take anymore and needed air- I needed air so much.

I felt Rhys's darkness envelop me into a gentle and warming presence and it managed to soothe me and made me feel better. But it didn't last, I felt the cough surface again and would have collapsed on to the bathroom floor- we were still in the bathroom, for goodness sake- if it hadn't been for Rhys catching me.

"Feyre, my magic's not working," He said worriedly, and I could tell he was near to losing it and yelling.

"I can- tell-" I exploded into more coughs and turned over from his arms and coughed into the toilet bowl, coughing out blood and splattering the sides of the toilet bowl, which resulted in Rhys cursing in words that would have made even the worst fae blush.

I suddenly recalled the conversation I had in the dining room in breakfast yesterday morning (had it really just been yesterday morning?)

 _Lucien didn't come in after them, which left me suspicious. He followed Tamlin everywhere (not like a lap dog, more like a friend in the pretense of a bodyguard). But I didn't say anything about it. Yet. I merely ate my food in silence, noting a weird tang in the water. I stopped eating when I realised they were all watching me, not touching their food._

I turned over to Rhys. "Poison," I gasped out.

The blood splattered in the toilet bowl looked so similar to the blood I had spilled under the mountain and my nausea grew. Rhys was panicking now. He turned me away from the toilet bowl and heaved me up into his arms, bringing me out of the bathroom and then out into the hallways.

"Tarquin!" He yelled.

Guards thundered down the hallway. "Get Tarquin and a healer. Now," Rhys snarled.

The guards were clearly quaking in their boots. Half of them ran off while the other half fidgeted, unsure what to do.

"Don't just stand there," Rhys snapped. "Find someplace I can properly take care of my mate!"

The guards nodded and lead us to a room with beds lining the walls and various equipment in the middle.

"Th-This is the infirmary," one of the guards stammered.

Rhys laid me on one of the beds with such gentleness I nearly cried out. I could barely keep my eyes open and the cough had followed me all the way here, worsening with each breath I took.

"You're going to be okay, Feyre. Your blood- your blood will be able to help you, to heal you. I'll take the pain away for you. Okay?" He asked gently.

I gave a slight nod, opening a slight crack in my shields. I felt him enter and the pain flowed away until I felt nothing. The coughs were just a mere annoyance now. Amren burst through the door, Tarquin following close and a healer trailing behind them both.

"What the hell happened?" She yelled.

"She was poisoned- bloodbane. Through water," He told them.

So he had seen the memory I had thought of from yesterday morning. And he had identified the poison.

 _Of course I did, do you really think that low of me?  
_

I only had enough strength to smile.

Tarquin nodded to the healer and she came to my side, hesitant to approach me.

"Please. Help her," Rhys pleaded.

The healer was startled that Rhys had asked her so nicely and nodded, waving her hands over my body, brow furrowed in concentration.

"Her body is conflicted. Her blood is rejecting the poison but the poison is pushing for acceptance in her blood. I'm guessing that the blood was also spelled to prevent you from doing anything to help her. I would have to conduct another spell to help her, and it'll be painful," She said.

"Do it," I rasped.

"Wait- I-" Rhys interrupted. "Let me put her to sleep first."

He looked at me for confirmation and my reply was an even more hazardous cough and fumbling for a napkin to hide the blood in.

I was immersed in the darkness for the second time that day and the soothing sense of it slowly lulled me to sleep- to nightmares or dreams I didn't know.

xXx

 **RHYS**

I stayed with her for the entire day, clutching her hand. She still hadn't woken up, even after the healer's spell. It had helped in a way my magic hadn't- the effects had stayed, been permanent.

Amren sighed from where she was standing. "You should go and get something to eat," She said.

I looked up from gazing at Feyre's beautiful face- she looked extremely peaceful as she was sleeping.

"I'm not hungry." 

"Please. You've been at her side since 6am in the morning. News flash, Rhys, it's 6 in the evening now."

I was still hesitant. She was right, I did need to eat something. I was famished.

"If Feyre wakes up-"

"I'll get you. Now go," She shooed.

I listened and went out to the dining room. I was too early for dinner and too late for lunch so I simply whipped out my own food in the room I shared with Feyre. But as soon as I finished the food, I raced back to the infirmary. Amren rolled her eyes at me as soon as she saw me.

"Seriously? It's only been 30 minutes," She groaned.

I ignored her and went back to Feyre's side, brushing my thumb on her hand. I stilled as she stirred, moving her head slightly to the left.

"Is she waking up?" Amren whispered to me.

I was about to answer her when Feyre whimpered.

My eyes narrowed and I brushed my tendrils against her shields, wanting, no needing, to know what was making her upset.

"Feyre. Feyre, wake up," I whispered, claws raking her walls for any cracks. Of course there wouldn't be any, she was very good in keeping her shields up. Swearing inwardly, I winced and pushed and broke and created a sliver in her shields, making sure the entrance was still open for me to exit. And that's when I managed to see through her eyes.

Feyre was in the dining room of the Spring Court. Tamlin, the King and Jurian were there, and I could see that Feyre was stuck to a chair.

"He's here. I can sense him," Jurian hissed.

The King grinned. "Hello, Rhysand. Enjoying the little present I left in your mate's circulatory system?"

Looking through Feyre's eyes meant that I was just a watcher, not someone who could speak out. I wanted to snarl at them at that remark and thankfully, Feyre was feeling similar.

"I'm going to cut the small chat, Rhys, and get straight to the point," The King drawled. "The poison in your mate's body will not cease. Of course, you could stall its effects but no matter what healing spell your healer uses, it will not work without the cure, which can only be attained from me. Of course, you would have to give Feyre back, with the Book of Breathings. Refuse and she dies."

 _Rhys- Rhys, can you hear me?_

 _Feyre, darling, are you alright? Have they done anything else before I got here?_

"It's quite simple, really," Jurian smiled. "Give us what we want and we will heal the girl."

 _No, nothing. Rhys- Get the cure through Tamlin. I told him that whatever I told him to do he would have to, together with sending those reports, remember?_

"You can leave now. Send us a message, whichever fancy way you would like to seal our agreement," The King stated.

 _I will- I will save you, Feyre. I promise I will get that cure for you._

I had to do something for her, anything to get her out of this treacherous zone. It took a mass amount of concentration and powers as it wasn't my own body I was in. I destroyed the communication the King had over Feyre and we both left.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Hey guys! To inform you, today's chapter will be a mix of two point of views, Rhysand's and Lucien's and they will be switched around a little in this chapter.**_

 **RHYS**

Amren and I decided that Feyre would be in better hands in the Night Court, where she could be even more surrounded by the people she loved.

I now felt utterly useless, not being able to help Feyre. I had done all I can, had made Feyre's poison-induced sleep much more tolerable. I had recreated Velaris in her mind so she had someplace peaceful to be in while asleep and anyone I allowed could visit her there- for example, right now.

"When we go back, will you… maybe get my sisters to come here? I-I have to apologise to them for what happened, I-"

"It's not your fault," I interjected.

"But if I hadn't told Ianthe-"

"If you hadn't told Ianthe, the King would still have found your sisters, especially having bargained with Tamlin, who knows the whereabouts of them. It's not you fault," I repeated.

She hung her head, still clearly dejected.

"Feyre," I said, using one of my hands to lift her face to face mines. "They're fine. They're still adjusting but they are fine. I promise that I will bring them here to see you and I'll even bring our Inner Circle in. But I have sent a message to Tamlin so- so maybe you'll get to see them in person instead."

She gave me a small smile that still managed to catch my breath.

"If the poison is bloodbane, shouldn't my blood or the plant the Suriel told me heal me like it healed you? Unless you've already tried that and it didn't work."

"If the poison is spelled to block any Night Court magic, your blood would be blocked from healing your body as you are the High Lady of the Night Court," I explained. "And no, I haven't tried it yet but I can if you want, when we return to the Night Court."

She sighed and scooted over to my side, snuggling against me. "When will this end?" She mused under her breath.

I stroked her hair gently, loving the silkiness of her golden brown hair.

"It's war," I murmured, "But I promise you, we're going to have an extremely long vacation once this is all over."

She was silent and merely rested her head against my chest, my arms tightening around her. And we stayed that way for a very long time.

xXx

Feyre was once more in my arms. This was what, the fourth time since her return? Tarquin and Amren were bidding us farewell before we went back to the Night Court.

"Take care of her," Amren said, "Or I'll take a little trip over there and kick your ass."

Tarquin coughed to hide his chuckle.

"I will. You won't need to worry."

"I hope not," She muttered.

"Have a safe journey, Rhysand. We'll notify you if anything comes in from the Spring Court," Tarquin said, which reassured me slightly.

I thanked him and turned back to Amren.

"You'll be okay here?" I asked her.

"You go worry about our High Lady. Unlike you, I don't need company to keep my pride," She said, grinning.

I rolled my eyes and faced our new passenger. Lucien was wringing his hands, obviously worried about meeting his mate and coming with me to the Night Court.

"Are you ready?" I asked him.

He nodded and his eyes drifted to Feyre. "I'm sorry- for Feyre. Maybe if I had been more involved-"

"You would have what? Found out they were going to poison her? Tamlin didn't know too so how would you have found out?" I asked with a sort of lethal calmness.

He didn't answer and actually looked ashamed. It sparked a little pity in me. "Here," I said," Hold Feyre for me. I won't be able to winnow you if I'm holding her, I won't be able to make skin contact with the both of you at the same time and I only want to make this trip once."

He nodded and carefully took Feyre in his arms. Of course I didn't like the fact that he was now carrying my mate but what I had said was true. Gripping both of their hands, I winnowed to Velaris. We landed in the foyer of the House of Wind. Mor was lounging there and she got off the couch as soon as she saw us.

"Feyre!" She cried out, rushing over to her side. She sent a glare to Lucien who quickly transferred Feyre into her arms instead.

"I'll bring her to my room," Mor told me and I nodded.

As soon as she was gone, I turned to Lucien. "Are you ready to see your mate?" I asked.

He was silent for a moment. "Will she even want to see me?" He asked quietly.

His worry stopped me from snapping at him and I recalled how I had felt when I had went over to the cabin to find Feyre. Would she have let me in? Would she have wanted to talk to me, or even wanted to see me? Would she actually accept the mate bond?

"Elain isn't like that. She's kind and compassionate and will want to know more about you. Of course, you can see for yourself," I said, holding out a hand for him.

He hesitated only for a fraction of a second before striding over with slight confidence and gripped my hand. I winnowed him to the no winnowing border and motioned to the small house, to the cabin in the distance.

"Elain is in there. Nesta isn't there right now, she's with Cassian so be thankful for that. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't allow you five miles in her space," I told him, shrugging.

"You're not coming with me?" He asked, slightly shocked and more worried and panicky than before.

"I'm going to go back to Feyre. Mor will probably want to know more and die from the suspense so I should go back and make sure that doesn't happen," I said.

"Wait, but-"

But he was too late and I had already winnowed back to the House of Wind. I heard him curse as I disappeared.

Mor was already waiting for me in her room, Feyre's head supported by an immense amount of pillows. "What happened? Tell me everything. Every. Single. Detail. Now." She demanded.

I told her everything that had happened, from what Feyre had done to infiltrate the Spring Court to what the King had demanded from us to heal her. Mor was fuming and already cursing when I was done.

"You mean to tell me that my High Lady is now on the verge of death?" She asked.

I nodded hesitantly. Her face drooped and she motioned to Feyre. "Can I see her?"

I smiled and took her hand, leading her to the home I had created for Feyre.

 **LUCIEN**

Damn Rhysand for leaving me like this. Damn him for dumping me here and expecting me to go alone to the cabin that house my mate.

Scowling, I trudged through the snow to the door of the cabin, took a breath and knocked on it.

"Coming~" a sweet, lilting voice rang out from within the cabin and before I even had the chance to chicken out, the door opened and Elain's pretty, innocent face gazed out at me. She faltered for a moment when she caught sight of me. "Lucien," She breathed.

I fidgeted on the steps, suddenly feeling very vulnerable and exposed in front of her, so much more vulnerable than I had ever felt in my entire life.

"Elain… I- I should go, I merely wanted to see that you were okay-"

"No, no. Come in, Please," She said, eyes showing hints of curiosity to know more about me and this supposed relationship between us.

I hesitantly, ever so slowly, stepped into the threshold. The cabin was simple yet beautifully furnished, but that wasn't what caught my eye. The paintings on the walls did. Every surface was covered with beautiful paintings that consisted of all the vibrant and dark colours and they contrasted beautifully against the stark walls of the cabin. The brushstrokes, the style reminded me of Feyre's own paintings and they looked pretty similar.

"They're Feyre's," Elain told me. So I had been right, these were Feyre's work.

My mouth contorted into an O. She gestured to the sofa in the living room and I sat down next to her, careful to keep a respected distance away from her.

"How are you handling the transformation?" I asked her quietly.

"It was difficult in the beginning. All of my senses have been amplified, heightened… but then I discovered my powers for the flowers, nature stuff and everything just- fit into place for me. I mean, I've always wanted to make everywhere I went a home for myself and those I loved and now, as a fae, it fits," She told me, shrugging, then she stopped herself. "But do you understand that, I babble sometimes-"

"No, I do," I interrupted. "I get the feeling."

She nodded and smiled at me. Her smile was exquisite, it felt like meadows, gardens, the forest- and home.

"So…" She said hesitantly. "Would you tell me about this mate thing? I'm afraid I don't exactly know a lot, Nesta doesn't want me to get involved. She's taken the transformation a lot harder than I have and unlike myself, despises being a fae."

"You're not just a fae. You're a high fae. High fae have more power than normal faes, or as we call them, lesser faes," I explained.

She nodded and listened with rapt fascination as I explained what a mate was, its history and even what was needed for the female to accept the bond. Her eyes widened as I told her what would happen after the bond was accepted and a slight flush entered her cheeks.

"And if I don't accept the bond?" She asked quietly.

I ponded over the question. It was rare to turn the bond away but it wasn't impossible. "It wouldn't matter. Nothing would change, although the bond would still be there, no matter what happened."

"Then doesn't that make it hard for us both if I'm not supposed to offer you food if I don't want the mating bond?"

"Do you? Want the mating bond, I mean."

She was silent and when she spoke, it was in a hushed tone. "I'm not sure. Maybe not right now. I think… I think I want some time to get to know you and for you to get to know me." She looked up at me, straight in the eye. "Is that okay?"

My heart skipped a beat at her innocence and need to look after my feelings. I smiled at her. "Yes. It's perfect."

 **RHYS**

Cassian, Nesta and Mor were keeping Feyre company while Azriel was returning from his duties. Since Mor had already been in when Cas and Nesta had arrived, I made her the anchor so whoever touched her and concentrated would be able to visit Feyre. I was now waiting for Tamlin's message and hopefully, the cure.

Finally, finally, Feyre shifted in her sleep as words appeared on her hands once more. I carefully held them in my own and once more sharpened them, my eyes skimming over the words.

 _Your request for a cure is difficult. The King and Jurian aren't sharing that information with anyone and ignore our arguments about having kept the plan for poisoning away from us. The other two courts that have allied with us are also sceptical as we have poisoned the Cursebreaker and the first High Lady in many years. Nothing has come in from the Winter or Day Court yet about our messages about allying with them. They do not want this to get out but the Lady of the Autumn Court has shown signs of contempt to this alliance and may rebel and change the alliance of her court._

I cursed as I finished reading the report and angrily erased the words with a wave of my hand. I gently laid Feyre's hands back down on the bed and stalked the room. The Winter Court and the Day Court. We had to send them messages ourselves to get their alliance before they had the chance to think about allying with Hybern. Especially the Winter Court- my heart stuttered a beat as a memory came to me. Shame flooded through me as I remembered what I had done to the younglings.

 _They were screaming. Not the children, their family, their loved ones. I wanted to scream with them, cry with them for what I was about to do. I had to, Amarantha commanded it. But that didn't mean I had no heart or soul for them. They would call what I had done a blight, something that had wiped out dozens of children as their minds collapsed._

 _I had wanted to make it as painless as possible for them. But even afterwards, in the midst of all the screams, I couldn't help but think that their pain had been passed on to me. Was this their revenge, the karma that had been passed on to me? I was ashamed and guilty for what I did but could only give a grin to those around me, pretend that I relished in their deaths when I truly felt like my soul was collapsing into myself._

I shook my head to clear those thoughts, my fists clenching and unclenching at my sides. This was a part of me that I had never shared with Feyre, the part of me that spoke truth to what Feyre had called me- a mess.

"How is she?" A voice interrupted my thoughts.

Azriel was leaning on the door, eyes flickering between the four of them at the bed and me stalking the room. I stopped and responded, "You can see her, you know."

He hesitated. "I think… I think not."

I didn't ask him why, merely gave him a nod. I was used to Az like that.

"You seem distant," He said, folding his arms.

"It's the courts. We'll have to send out messages to the Day and… Winter Court soon for the alliance," I sighed.

We were both silent. "They suspect it was you," Azriel murmured.

"They know it was me. They've suspected it from the beginning and so why would they want an alliance with a court ruled by someone who killed dozens of their younglings?"

"They would listen to Feyre."

"Maybe if she wasn't mated to me."

"The Winter Court may hate you, Rhys, but they most certainly do not want their lands to be overrun by Hybern or the truce with the mortal lands to be broken."

"Unless they desperately want revenge."

"Do you think they would get their revenge through ways that may kill even more of their people?"

I was silent. And then I sighed once more. "You're right. But it wouldn't be wise for me to go."

He nodded. "Perhaps Lucien could go. If he wanted to help. Or we could focus on the Day Court first."

I pursed my lips, still unsure about the idea. "And what of Feyre? Wouldn't her presence be better to form an alliance?"

"We could wait, if that's what you want, send out our own messages first. But if they want a meeting before Feyre awakens, you'll have to make a choice Rhys. And a good one."


	12. Chapter 12

**RHYS**

Messages were sent out to the Dawn Court the following morning. During the night, I waited for Tamlin's message once more, hoping desperately for the cure. Nothing. There was once more the words 'Your request for a cure is difficult' and only very brief words on what the cure might be, in hopes that we could create one ourselves.

The following day was the same. And the results were the same. Another day passed and we gained the name of the ingredients for the cure. And one of those was rather… impossible.

"Bloody hell, whose blood? Repeat that again, I think I heard wrongly," Mor snapped.

I was retelling the letter I had recently gotten from Tamlin. Nesta, Cassian, Azriel and Mor were listening intently to every word that came out of my mouth. Lucien was staying at the cabin per Elain's hesitant invitation, which contributed to Nesta's fury and urge to storm back to the cabin and rip Elain away from him. The only thing keeping her from doing so was Cassian, which I thought was rather sweet.

"No, you didn't hear wrongly. We need the King's blood in the cure so the spell against her blood curing herself can be broken," I repeated.

"And how the hell are we going to do that?" Mor demanded.

"Language, darling," I reprimanded. "And it's not our problem. I've handed it to Tamlin to get the blood. The other ingredients will be simple, the pink-flowered weed she found for me that day in the forest, the oneirogen herb and the carnelian roots. Get a healer to spell it and make it into a medicine. If all goes well, we will get the blood by tomorrow night and hopefully, we can wake Feyre by then."

"You forgot about the side note, "Azriel murmured.

"Yes. And the mortal queens. The King has brought them to the mansion to presumably, keep an eye on them. Tamlin says they aren't themselves, more like… figments of what they used to be, unlike Nesta and Elain."

"Those bitches deserve whatever they got," Mor muttered.

I almost reprimanded her again but how could I when I agreed so much with her? Cassian said as much.

"I'll get the ingredients as I'm patrolling the grounds," Azriel volunteered.

I nodded my thanks at him. "Mor, you can find the healer if you seriously have nothing else to do."

She perked up at that, having been complaining to me and Feyre for the past few days about waiting for help from an insignificant tool and how me being the most powerful High Lord in Prythian was of no use at that moment.

After further discussion, we parted ways, each with our own missions. All I wanted to do was stay by Feyre's side but Azriel told me there was news and reports for me in my court. I left Nesta to look after Feyre and decided to go alone to the court this time, as each member of my inner circle had duties to do and Cassian going while his wings were still healing would bring looks and rumours about him spiralling around my court.

I listened to the reports Keir had for me half-heartedly and waved my hand at him after he was done, looking bored at what he had to offer. A while later, he returned and I almost snarled at him. What was he doing back?

"Milord," He started, eyes darting here and there as if afraid having denied my order at his dismissal, "I return to send you a message from the Dawn Court. High Lord Casimir has not confirmed his alliance with the night court but requests your presence for a meal with him at his court in two days, to discuss Hybern and your intentions for Prythian during the war."

I blinked once. Twice. The only emotion of surprise that was shown on my face to my court. "Very well. If that's all, take your leave. This time, don't return no matter what little shenanigans of messages you receive. HaHHandx them to someone else. Hand them to someone else instead. I tire of your face."

Keir nodded and hurriedly backed away into the throes of people below. Moments later, I took my leave with several orders imbedded in my court.

The night after, I received Hybern's blood from Tamlin and the herbs from Az. How Tamlin had gotten the blood intrigued me and I sent a message regarding my curiosity.

"I brought your healer," Mor announced and walked in the room with a fae by her side.

She was trembling a little with trepidation and her head was lowered to face the ground, not daring to look up. I strode over to her and cocked my head, lifting her hand up to face mines. She gulped, eyes daring to the sides to avoid my gaze.

"Look at me," I commanded.

She did, and I felt bad for having brought her into this. "What's your name?" I asked her.

"A-Aleris, milord," She stammered.

I let go of her chin and took a step back, my eyes still on her. "And how long have you been a healer?"

"Since I was a child, milord. My- my mother taught me all there was to know about healing. I… I always believed she was the best healer that had ever walked Prythian."

"Was?"

"She died during Amarantha's slaughter of the Night Court. My father too." She replied quietly.

My fists clenched at my sides. That- that had been my fault. "I'm sorry for your loss." I merely told her.

She nodded her head, acknowledging my condolence.

"Quit scaring the poor girl, Rhys. And stop doubting me, Aleris is one of the best healers I have seen around the court," Mor said.

Azriel flying in saved me from making a remark to Mor. He withdrew a pouch from his pocket and tossed it to me. I caught it, unzipped it and saw the ingredients needed inside. "Thanks Az. Aleris," I turned back to her, handing her the pouch and the vial of Hybern's blood from my pocket, "I need you to ground this finely and create a medicine out of it and spell it to make it drinkable and have quick healing processes. Can you do that?"

She nodded and opened her mouth to say something. And hesitated, closing it. "What else do you need?" I asked her.

"A- a room and proper supplies to create the cure, milord."

"I'll bring you," Mor told her and gestured for her to follow.

Aleris and Mor disappeared down a right hallway, leaving me and Azriel.

"Go to Feyre," He said. "I'll follow Mor and Aleris. Or would you rather I follow you?"

"No. Go to Mor. Aleris will most probably be drained from creating the cure, so one of you can accompany her back to her quarters."

He nodded and strode after Mor and Aleris, and I walked in the other direction to Feyre's room.

xXx

 **FEYRE**

The next morning, I was awake. Hugs had been exchanged when I had woken up at midnight, together with death threats to Hybern and his lot which the Inner Circle had agreed on, other than Amren, of course. Even Lucien and Elain had come down from the cabin and joined us. I almost giggled at the glares Nesta sent Lucien's way and how he paled and slowly edged himself a further distance away from Elain.

"I'm following you to the Dawn Court," I announced in the midst of teasing Rhys and straddling him on his lap.

He sighed and he tugged on my earlobe. "I can't change your mind, I suppose?"

"No. And you would have brought me with you anyway," I said, grinning.

"I would rather you be by my side than anywhere else so I suppose I agree with you."

I smirked. "Are you actually admitting that I'm right?"

"Don't get used to it," Rhys purred.

"Wouldn't dream of it," I purred back and laughed when he grabbed my wrists, pulling me in for a kiss.

xXx

We had spent the previous day teasing and taunting each other, making up for our lost time. The dress I was adorned in for our breakfast with the Dawn Court was glamorous. Tiny jewels and gems sewn into the silk caught the light as I walked and the hemline of the gown dropped to show the curve of my breasts. The sleeves billowed around my wrists in the Night Court fashion and the skirt of my gown had tendrils of darkness, or vines, spiralling upwards, depending on your perspective.

I stepped outside of our house in Velaris. The wording still got me, our court. Our house. Our inner circle. Rhys was already standing there, waiting for me and his face brightened up when he saw me. I smiled back at him and took his outstretched hand.

"You look exquisite, Feyre darling."

"You don't look too bad yourself," I smirked.

A lie. And both of us knew that. Rhys was dressed in another version of the black formal suit he had worn when he had the mask of the High Lord on. This one had sparkling silver on the cuffs of his wrists and it was midnight blue instead of black, without a speck of dust on them, of course. He looked ravishing.

Mor and the others weren't there to see us off, they had other business to do. I gripped his hand tightly and he winnowed us to the Dawn Court.

It was similar to the Summer Court in terms of lightness. The Dawn Court was one of the lunar courts, so therefore the scenery was even more exquisite than in the Summer Court. But of course it wasn't much more beautiful than the Night Court. Rhys had winnowed us in front of the gates of a palace. I could see fountains which formed rainbows in the mist and a lush green maze beyond the gates.

When I turned, I saw the sun's upcoming light, striking the walls of the houses which extended as far as the eye could see. They started from small palaces and transitioned slowly to mansions, normal houses and cottages as they went further down the road.

"The dawn is beautiful, isn't it? Such wonderful symbolism for the start of a new day," A voice rang out behind me.

I whirled back around, my eyes first taking note of the guards with their navy uniforms, then of a woman with golden hair and the handmaid standing beside her and lastly on a man who was clothed in gold and ruby, his hair a gorgeous colour of platinum blond.

"High Lord Casimir," Rhys greeted.

"High Lord Rhysand," Casimir said in return and turned to me. "And your mate. I don't believe we've been properly introduced."

I stood up straighter, needing to sound and look commanding. "I am the mate and wife of the High Lord of the Night Court and the High Lady of the Night Court, Feyre Archeron."

There was shifting and murmurs in the guards Casimir had brought and the woman's eyes widened and she whispered something into her handmaiden's ear. I was much too polite to eavesdrop but it seems that Casimir had and he frowned at her. "Castalia, please. Be nice."

She lowered her eyes and apologised softly. Did Casimir command females around this casually? He noticed my gaze and softened. "I apologise for my harshness, High Lady Feyre, but you are an honoured guest here. I will not have you insulted or doubted."

He paused for a moment and Castalia's eyes darted upwards again. A look passed between them and she turned her eyes to me.

"I am terribly sorry, Lady Feyre. I hadn't meant to doubt you in any way. My name is Castalia, the mate of High Lord Casimir and the Lady of the Dawn Court."

"It's alright, Lady Castalia," I replied, noting the words she used, which had been Lady and not High Lady. "I am pleased to meet you."

 _Casimir and Castalia. How poetic._

 _Feyre and Rhysand. Does that not sound much better?_

I wanted to bark out a laugh right then and there. Of course Rhys would say something like that. Soon, after our introductions, we were led into the gates and then into the palace. The palace was made up of somewhat glass or of a more powerful, transparent material.

"The walls are made of pureglass, our very own invention in the dawn court. It is spelled to allow the palace to be transparent during dawn, although private quarters are hidden by the other materials used for the houses outside the gates," Casimir explained as we walked down each hallway.

"This aurora palace is the most prestigious one in the court. There used be four aurora palaces in the Dawn Court, one in the north, south, east and west but the other three were destroyed during Amarantha's reign. We do have other houses in the city but we don't use them much and we now normally rent them out to other nobles."

Castalia's voice cut in. "This palace had been in the legacy of the High Lords ever since the beginning of time. Luckily, Amarantha left our best palace intact. The other palaces are still under construction but we're not sure how this war with Hybern will go. Are we going to have more of our land and buildings destroyed and all of our efforts going to waste?"

"So you do plan to fight in this war," I said slowly.

Castalia and Casimir exchanged a look again.

"Fighting is a… last resort for us, shall we say? Knowing that the wall our ancestors built for peace will be taken down doesn't sound right to us. However, as much as we do not agree with what Hybern is doing, his forces are powerful and the damage they could do would be worse than what one of his lackeys had done," Casimir said carefully.

"So you plan to be neutral," Rhys said flatly.

"We plan to bide our time from joining something that could potentially harm the people of my court," Casimir contradicted.

We were then silent, the only sound our footsteps. We neared a set of double doors and the guards pushed them open. The doors opened to reveal a spacious room with several tables lining the side, which the guards flocked to. There was a grand table in the middle with seven seats, two occupied, which became three as one guard broke off from the group and took a seat there. There was a large dome at the end of the room, transparent and allowing a view of the Dawn Court below.

"Is that also made of pureglass?" I asked, my voice ringing out and bouncing, echoing throughout the room.

"No," The female fae from the table said, "It is simply a one-way glass. We can see the people but they don't see us. All they see is a mirror reflecting the sun and their homes."

She stood up as we walked closer and bowed. "My name is Laylia, sister to Lady Castalia. This man here," She gestured to the fae on her right, to the guard who had sat there," is Valemon, head of the king's guard. And the other across from me is Herne, the trusted advisor of the High Lord and Lady."

I smiled at them all. "I am pleased and honoured to meet you all. I am-"

"We know who you are, Lady Feyre, Cursebreaker, mate of the High Lord of the Night Court and Lady of the Night Court," Herne interrupted.

Fury and irritation rose in me but I quenched it. "I'm afraid your facts are a little wrong there, Herne. I am not the Lady of the Night Court, I am the High Lady of the Night Court, like and unlike all. So, please, take your wordings carefully the next time you address me," I said, keeping the smile plastered on my face, feeling a sense of satisfaction and pure glee through the bond.

Rhys took the seat in between Herne and Valemon and I sat across from him, between Castalia and Laylia. Casimir sat at the head of the table, Herne and Castalia on the seats closest to him.

We began with questions about how I had become what I was, which soon drifted back to Hybern. In between courses, we argued in a polite manner on the matter of armies and whose side the Dawn Court was on and what our side truly meant. Laylia surprisingly took my side, something I hadn't expected from the sister of such a cold fae. I suppose it was just like Nesta and Elain, Nesta being the cold one and Elain being the bubbly, cheerful, surprising one.

We were nearing a somewhat agreed on alliance, where the Dawn Court would ally with the Night, although the armies they provided would only be on a last resort. We were struggling to fix that part, the part where we could have full access to each other's armies for protection, when a servant carrying a folded paper rushed into the room, panting for breath.

The guards all stood up, their meal forgotten and discarded, with hands on their swords.

"What is it?" Casimir asked, standing up and holding out a hand to stop the guards from apprehending the servant.

"A message- regarding the High Lord of the Spring Court," The servant panted.

I stilled and felt worry and disgust through the bond and also Castalia's eyes boring down me.

"What of him?" Casimir asked.

"Hybern has found him guilty of betraying him and due to a deal they made, Hybern is now the temporary ruler of the Spring Court and has stopped all shipments to courts not allied with him, including kicking out every non spring courtier."

 **AHH, so many new characters! Five in total** **And sorry for not updating as frequent as I did before, school has started for me and it's taking me a bit longer to think up and write the storyline. And for now, the point of view will be in Feyre's, unless anything else happens. May post several one shots regarding other ships and what they're going through, too! (We all need some Nessian and Elucien and Moriel)**


	13. Chapter 13

Shock registered on everyone's faces and confusion flared on those who hadn't known what Tamlin had done to betray Hybern. This would technically be everyone other than me and Rhys.

 _They caught him._

 _They didn't say that exactly. But yes, Feyre, I'm sure Hybern being the temporary ruler of the Spring Court means exactly that._

Even through his sarcasm, I sensed cautiousness at what Hybern had done. He now had a lot more power in his hands.

 _Are you upset about it?_

 _No. Maybe I'm upset that the Spring Court has been taken over and Hybern has extra power but not at Tamlin being captured._

 _And if he dies?_

 _I wanted to be the one to kill him, Rhys. Maybe I won't have the chance to do it myself but I won't mourn him._

I paused for a moment. Was that right of me to do?

Rhys sensed my hesitations and sent out a soothing brush against our bond.

 _To be honest, I want to be the one to tear him into pieces. But you deserve it more than anything. And even if neither of us gets the chance to do it ourselves,_ __ _you'll never have to deal with him again. And if anyone has gone through the terrible ordeals of what he did most, it's you. You're right to feel the way you do._

I smiled to myself at that. Yes, Rhys was right.

 _Of course I am._

Casimir urged everyone to sit back down and commanded the servant to send a message to another one of his lower advisors to handle any Dawn Court refugees from the Spring Court. Some had escaped there, like Alis, or sent there, like Lucien.

"This changes things," Casimir said. "Our alliance with you- some policies have to change."

"What did they ship to you?" I asked.

"Nothing we can't do ourselves. No, I'm afraid Laylia is right. If Lord Tamlin is no longer ruling the Spring Court, then we no longer can make peaceful negotiations. I thought…" He ran a hand over his hair. "I thought we could do this without shedding any blood."

"Blood has already been spilled, Lord Casimir, even before Hybern took over the Spring Court," I said firmly.

"What do you plan to change now?" Rhys drawled.

Casimir paused and sighed. "This isn't ideal but I would rather our court be prepared than be overrun by Hybern. Our armies will be ready for war and for defence in other courts."

Herne gave an intake of breath and argued with Casimir. "My lord, our people will be slaughtered-"

"More will be if we don't do something to help bring Hybern down. We are in his way to break down the wall between us and the humans and he will cut us down. With added forces from our courts, we will stand a better chance in stopping that from happening. And anyway, I would rather want to be remembered in the history books as a court which took a stand with the night side and not a court that just stood at the side-lines."

Side-lines. Was that not what Tamlin had done? Stood at the side-lines while Amarantha tortured me and Lucien? And if a court was neutral, would it not mean the same thing? The mere thought brought slight anger to me. Being on the side-lines would not help anybody, only kill them and break them.

Castalia still frowned at her mate, which surprised me. Perhaps them being mates hadn't been ideal for them, or perhaps it was just in this context. The looks they shared did seem like their bond was strong within them, even though I could feel the disapproval radiating off her. Herne was still spluttering, wanting to change his High Lord's mind and Valemon just stand there, keeping his eyes between me and Rhys, noting our moves. Laylia was smiling brightly at Casimir, glad that he had followed what she had suggested. Or was she smiling at something more? Could the sister of the Lady of the Dawn Court be a spy for Hybern?

 _Perhaps you're a tad bit paranoid, darling._

 _Does the bond make everything I think even more obvious to you?_

 _Like I said before, I can't help but listen when you shout down the bond, darling. And yes, the bond marking you as my mate and High Lady is stronger than the bargain bond we made._

 _I'm not being paranoid, I just- I just think we should keep an eye on everyone we don't know personally. You never know their true intentions or what they could do._

I was sure Rhys could hear coldness in my voice. I was reminded of Tamlin before the curse was broken. I myself never knew what he could truly do with his power or what he could do to me with it until it was too late.

 _What about Cassian?_

 _The Dawn Court has to have something to help him._

I locked eyes with him, sensing his desperation.

 _My blood could have helped him._

 _But could it still?_

I hesitated. The blood in my veins could only heal someone because of the Dawn Court magic.

 _Perhaps it would be better to get a cure from the true source._

"Lord Casimir… May I ask one other thing?" I asked tentatively.

"My lord has no time for your pathetic demands," Herne spat out.

Rhys growled and his shadowy talons extended from his hands, shadows spiralling around him and Herne.

"You will not speak so rudely to my mate, _advisor_ ," He snarled, the advisor sounding like a curse on his lips and made the shadows disappear.

Casimir was glaring daggers at his advisor. "Herne," Casimir said slowly, "The next time you decide to insult our guest, you will no longer be required to enter gatherings with other guests."

Turning his attention back to me, he asked, "What is it you require?"

"We understand you have healing powers in your court. We were wondering if you had any cures for someone whose wings have been… shall we say utterly destroyed. Only the roots of them remain."

"Our cures take time to make, but we will be able to make one for your friend's wings. As a sign of the start of our alliance and also as a symbol of apology from my advisor," Casimir said sharply, sneaking a glance in Herne's way.

Herne scowled at his High Lord's announcement but said nothing, smart enough to keep his mouth shut.

"We understand your blood has the dawn court magic in it. Could it heal someone?" Laylia asked.

Rhys and I shared a look and I was hit by both of our memories of the time he was shot by the idiot associates of Hybern. I remembered the ash arrows that I slowly extracted from his wings and then finding out I was his mate the day after when I hunted down the Suriel for information on healing him.

I swallowed and we turned back to Laylia.

"Yes, it happened once. And it did heal the wound remarkably quickly," I told her.

"Perhaps while you're waiting for us to send the cure to you, you could give your friend some of your blood to drink. It won't heal the wings completely but it will supress the pain and the membranes of the wings will be able to grow better," Laylia concluded.

Rhys stiffened at the thought of another male- be it Cas or anyone else- drinking my blood and I quickly replied with a 'We'll put that into mind." Cas was his brother but the mating bond was still going strong for Rhys. He wasn't insanely protective now but his instincts were still rather predatory.

We finished the breakfast- which was rather delicious- and Rhys and I were led out afterwards. We bid them farewell and left.

Back in our house in Velaris, I decided to take a shower and unbeknownst to me, Rhys joined me halfway through my shower, so we took a little bit more time before leaving for the House of Wind. We had a slightly heated discussion- just us speaking out our opinions, neither of us forcing the other to choose something- between us both about trying to get Cas to drink my blood for it to be more bearable for him until he got the full cure. He finally did manage to put aside his mate instincts and reluctantly agreed to give Cas some of my blood for his sake.

We winnowed to the House of Wind and were led in by a cheerful Elain. Cas, Mor, Nesta and Az were in the dining room, eating their breakfast. Rhys and I took our seat across from each other, barely touching our food. We were already full from our early breakfast in the Dawn Court, having woken up before sunrise to get there during sunrise.

"So how did breakfast with Casimir go?" Mor asked, spearing her bacon with her fork.

"It was quite successful. We got our alliance and armies from the Dawn Court, which came with surprising news. I'm sure Az told you about Tamlin?" Rhys cocked his head, swirling his glass.

They all nodded and you could see glee passing by their features for a split second. It brought a small smile to my lips.

"And," I added," We managed to ask them for a cure. A cure to heal wings."\

Cas stiffened, his face in shock. "You told them?"

"We merely asked for a cure. I wouldn't dare hurt your pride like that Cas, we all know how much that means to you," Rhys said in a serious tone. There a moment of silence and I started snickering while Mor started laughing out loud, causing Cas to scowl at us both.

I waited for them to finish their breakfast and pulled Cas aside as the rest left the dining room. Rhys caught my eye and I nodded at him. He would be near us if anything went wrong, was what he said. I suspected his mate instincts and he knew that too, given the smirk when I told him so.

"In the Dawn Court, Castalia's sister told me something." I began.

"Laylia?" He asked, his eyebrows raising upwards at the mention of her.

"Yes. You make it sound as though you know her," I noted.

"We had… our moments," He said carefully.

"And does Nesta know about those moments?" I asked casually, chuckling a bit when he got flustered afterwards.

"Anyway…" I drawled. "She told me that although the cure would be most effective and heal the wings the quickest, the time required to make it wouldn't be ideal. She proposed something else while waiting for this cure, something that could heal as good as Dawn Court magic."

I paused, wondering if he would figure it out. He did.

"Your blood," He said, his eyes widening.

I nodded. He ran a hand through his hair, clearly still not recovered from his shock. And when he regained his focus, he paused and said, "You know, I was just trying to work up the courage to ask you-"

"Please," I said, rolling my eyes. "We both know you would have taken at least three months to even speak of trying to heal your wings."

Illyrians. So proud and cocky and struggling to keep their pride. Cas grinned while removing the gauze from his wings. "Maybe I was just waiting for you to say it for me."

I sighed and made my left fingernails into the tips of talons, slicing down my right arm. It wasn't a deep gash but deep enough to grant a wince to me and a large amount of blood rose from the wound.

"Quickly. Three times, before the wound heals over," I said, trying not to cringe at the sight of the red liquid gushing out of it.

Cas slowly, carefully, lifted my arm to his lips and drank. Once, twice and then thrice. I let my arm drop back to my side when he was done and he wiped his mouth free of any blood that coated his mouth.

At first, nothing happened and disappointment filled me. I thought at least something would happen. And then Cas gasped out loud and arched his back. The tattered parts of his wings started to close over and the barest, torn parts of the ends extended and healed over. Cas's breaths now came in short pants and he relaxed as the last of his wings healed themselves. His wings weren't completely healed, it was just the beginning of them closest to the shoulder blades that had managed to grow completely. The cure would extend his wings, I assumed, so they would return back to their previous form.

His eyes widened as he took in his wings and he tried to flutter them a little. He managed to without any winces or grimaces.

"The pain is gone," He said softly and looked up at me, eyes glistening. "Thank you."

I smiled at him. "You're welcome."

Nesta chose that moment to walk in. "Cassian, you slow idiot, where have you-"

She stopped abruptly as she saw Cas and his wings out. "Cassian- your wings-" Her lips parted into an O.

Her eyes drifted to the cut on my arm and to remaining spots of red on Cas's lips, placing the pieces of the puzzle together and frowned. "Gross," She muttered and turned her back, pivoting on one heel and left.

I couldn't stop the grin spreading from one ear to the other. Cas noticed it and scowled at me. "You two are very similar," I said, laughing behind one hand.

"Don't ever compare me to… her," He grimaced.

"I'm not. I'm doing the opposite," I replied. "You both are too blind to see that you're falling for each other."

His response was stalking after Nesta, my laughter and words trailing behind him.


	14. Elucien Chapter

**ELUCIEN CHAPTER**

 _ **About what happened that day in the inn. Not in any of the character's perspective. Takes place right after they both talk about the mating bond in Chapter 11.**_

They talked all the way into the night. Lucien made dinner for two and they laughed, giggled and just… talked.

It was pleasing, Lucien thought, to just have someone to confide in about your problems and things you just want to discuss with someone.

He had explained the entire of Prythian to Elain and its High Lords. He could see it in her eyes when he told her about the Spring Court, she wanted to be there. It correlated with her powers, but Lucien would never want her to go there while Tamlin was still in charge there and most definitely not while it was overrun with Hybern and his lackeys.

"When I was a child, before my father lost all his money, I used to be the most demanding sister out of the three of us. I wanted a pet and when I couldn't get that because Nesta hated animals, I wanted those three dimensional jigsaw puzzles. And when I had completed them and had worn through them all, I would always want something different. We didn't have any wealth problems at that time. My father usually obliged and was all too happy to accept my demands," She laughed and then turned solemn.

"I guess that habit didn't exactly change when my father lost all our money," She said slowly, "Feyre always used the money she gained from hunting to buy Nesta and I new things. Now, I wonder if that money she wasted on us would have helped our family even more, in terms of food or even services we used to get."

Lucien didn't try to give any words to console Elain's frantic words. He hesitated instead before speaking his next words. "Why did you let her?"

Elain knew what that meant. It was a proper question, the right question. It didn't offend her. She knew how painful the answer was and was ashamed of herself for having let her Feyre do everything for their family.

"I think… I think we felt rather hopeless. All I did was run around, trying to make the small cottage we had my home when it was so obvious the rest of my family wanted something much more, like how it used to be," She said quietly.

"We all knew she had made a promise," She continued, "And perhaps that's when we all felt this pressure lift off our shoulders and left everything to her. We knew how much, how far she would go to keep that promise and so we left her to it."

She gave a bitter laugh. "Nesta was too proud. Our father was too useless. And me? I was too carefree."

Hesitantly, Lucien reached out a hand and brushed the back of his fingers on her palm. Elain didn't withdraw her hand.

"I don't think that's a problem," He said, smiling at Elain.

"Truly? Is my cheerfulness not what, a turn off?" Elain mused.

"Rather the opposite, love."

Elain laughed at the nickname and at his response.

"Speaking of Nesta…" Lucien continued.

Elain stopped abruptly, fully focused on the topic now. No more laughs, utter silence coming from her.

"Do you think she'll be coming back?" Lucien asked.

"No… at least I don't think so. She's been spending all her time at the House of Wind. She much prefers it, I think, due to… certain company," Her eyes sparkled with mischief at this and Lucien nearly swooned. "She came by this morning to get her stuff so I don't think she'll be returning anytime soon. Word will get to her, though, about you being here and there's no doubt she's going to go crazy."

Then, she narrowed her eyes at me. "How did _you_ get here?"

"After, what, five hours and you now ask that question, love?" Lucien barked out a laugh, resulting in a blush blooming on Elain's cheeks.

"Rhys brought me here. He decided that I needed to talk to you immediately, seeing as you're, you know. My mate. And also because the last person I ever truly talked freely to was Feyre and-"He caught himself.

"And who?" Elain asked curiously.

Lucien swallowed. "My… previous love. My family killed her and forced me to watch."

There was a moment of silence and a horrified noise came out of Elain's throat. "That- that's terrible, Lucien. No one should have ever been forced to go through that. I- Oh my god, Lucien, I'm sorry, I didn't know, I'm sorry for asking for ever even thought about the question-"

"Elain, no, it's not your fault," Lucien said quickly, reaching out to take hold of Elain's hands.

"It was a long time ago, anyway, I… It still hurts, you know, but I think I can move on now. Or move on from the pain, at least."

There was once more a moment of silence between them. "I- I know what it's like to watch someone you love die and the feeling of not being able to do anything to stop it. And that feeling of hopelessness? I would never wish it on anyone, even my worst enemy."

"And," She added, "Your family is not true family if they treat you like that. You had every right to turn your back on them and leave. No one deserves that. Especially you. You deserve much better. I can gather that much from what we've shared with each other over the past few hours."

"Thank you," Lucien said, his head drooping down.

Elain gave him a few moments and went into the kitchen, fixing them both a hot cup of tea. She set it before him and Lucien looked up, eyebrow raised at the drink before him.

"I suppose I can offer you drinks?" Elain asked, already taking a sip out of her cup.

Lucien nodded and took the other cup. They sipped their hot drinks quietly but soon had put the solemnness of the previous topic behind and their conversation was soon sparkling with laughter again.

xXx

They both had a peaceful sleep that night. One, Lucien thought, that no ghosts from his past had intruded on and one, Elain thought, which hadn't been filled with horrific memories of her human life or the ordeal at Hybern.

They both awoke at the same time, although Lucien chose to linger in his bed. Azriel came by as Elain was making breakfast to deliver more supplies and also deliver news on Feyre and other situations in all the courts.

"Is she going to be okay?" She asked softly.

"Tamlin is still under her orders to find the cure for her. None of us trust him but getting information from him would be better than storming the spring court for the cure from Hybern," Azriel replied. "Is Lucien treating you well?"

"He's nice and kind to me. I don't exactly understand how Nesta is so overprotective of me around him. I get that she doesn't trust any fae but I know he wouldn't dare hurt me," Elain pondered.

Azriel smiled at Elain's innocence but it quickly faded as he remembered what a certain family had done to harm someone he cared about, a certain family that the person he loved used to believe wouldn't have hurt her.

"You wouldn't ever know with certainty who would or wouldn't harm you," He said, a hint of anger and remorse behind his words.

Lucien chose that moment to walk in, hair mussed from being far too lazy to walk in. He froze when he noticed Azriel, who didn't look at all surprised that Lucien had spent the night. He was the spymaster for a reason.

Elain remembered Lucien's request to stay over very clearly, or rather, her prompt for him to stay.

" _It's getting late. I should probably go," Lucien murmured, getting up from his seat on the couch._

" _Do you even know how to get back?" Elain asked worriedly._

" _Yes, I… I do."_

" _But you seem uncertain about going back."_

 _Lucien didn't answer her and Elain leapt at this chance to prompt more from him._

" _You don't want to go back, do you?"_

 _He sighed and finally gave a reply. "You can read me too well, I… No, I don't. I… I don't feel like I'd belong there in whatever room Rhysand would give me in his house or whatever place he'd put me in."_

" _Would you feel like you belonged here if you stayed?" Elain asked._

 _Lucien once more didn't give an answer but Elain already knew it._

" _Then stay. Stay the night here. Nesta won't be back and you won't need to ever be worried about her. Stay if you feel like it. There's plenty enough rooms here."_

 _Lucien shook his head. "I can't, it wouldn't seem right."_

" _Would it feel right if you left? Tell me yes, say yes and look me in the eye when you do. Do it and I won't ever bother you with this again."_

 _But he couldn't. She knew damn well that he couldn't do what she had asked of him if it meant lying to her. Sighing once more, he said, "Okay. But just for this night."_

 _She had smiled at him, that bright smile from ear to ear and left the room._

Now, Lucien carefully walked over to her side, eyes narrowed at the spymaster. Azriel bowed his head and took this time to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow."

As soon as he was gone, some tension lifted off Lucien's shoulders. 

"What was he doing here?" He asked, trying to make it not sound so possessive and winced when he failed in doing so.

Elain didn't seem bothered by it. "He delivers supplies every day to me in the morning. The cabin does its job well on its own but it doesn't replenish its own food supply," She explained.

"Right. Right, the cabin does its own job. Right, um, that means it makes the bed, right?" He asked, face pale now.

"Yes." And then Elain frowned. "Did you make your own bed?"

"No," He said too quickly and hurriedly escaped from the room.

Elain giggled and shouted, "Breakfast will be ready soon, don't you dare take a bath yet."

She heard him curse and the sound of the bathroom door being shut.

xXx

 _2 days later_

"Elain!" Nesta ran through the cabin door.

The excitement in her eyes dimmed as she caught sight of Lucien.

"What are you doing here?" She growled, stalking towards him. "I told you to stay away from my sister."

"Nesta!" Elain cried out, placing herself in Nesta's path, blocking her from Lucien. "Don't. Lucien isn't what you think, he would never hurt me." She didn't add that the one night request from Lucien had turned into 3 nights.

"He's a fae, Elain. He's one of them, one of the people we've despised all our life!" Nesta protested.

"And what are we now, if not fae? Not one of those people we used to despise?"

"You're still betrothed, Elain, never forget that. Are you going to throw that away for them- for him, a fae?"

Elain felt her cheeks turn red. "He's a friend, Nesta. And that person hunts our kind. He would kills us as soon as he caught sight of us, no matter if I was his fiancé or not, he would kill us without a second thought. We need to live, Nesta. Live out the life we now have and put the past behind us. We no longer need to be the falling stars, where our life was just a simple light streaking through the sky. We can live and be the stars that hang in the night sky for eternity, our light shining every time. Please, sister, hear me out." Elain pleaded.

Nesta blinked at Elain, clearly shocked at her choice of words. Elain grabbed this as her chance to continue.

"Nesta, we're different now. We can either choose to live and make the best out of it or always live in the past, wanting to return to that life when it is impossible."

"It was impossible to make mortals into fae. Yet it happened to us. Is it that impossible for it to be the other way around?" Nesta said dryly, although her voice held more waver now.

"Please, Nesta," Elain pleaded once more, reaching for her hands and gripping them tightly. "I'm no longer that young, innocent girl you felt you had to protect. Perhaps you still feel like you need to, that sisterly love and protection of yours. We're both stronger now, better yet to protect our own selves."

Nesta tugged her hands away. "They're much older than us. We're new, they're the experienced. They can cut us down if they wish to."

"Do you really think we're that heartless?" Lucien cut in, anger behind his words.

"Your people killed my sister."

"Amarantha wasn't my people. She enslaved us. My true people brought her back to life."

"You wouldn't have needed to do that if she hadn't been killed in the first place. By your people or Amarantha or whatever people she comes from." Nesta snapped, although sounding unsure now.

"If she hadn't been remade into what she was, do you think you or your sister would be here right now?"

All three of them were silent. Feyre wouldn't have been strong enough to fight against Amarantha or stand up against Tamlin. She wouldn't even have had the mating bond with Rhysand or have met his Inner Circle- her Inner Circle now too.

Finally, Nesta gave in. "Fine," She snapped, looking away from Lucien to Elain. "He can stay. But that means I'm staying too. I don't trust him to be alone with you."

"And Cassian?" Elain asked.

Nesta waved it away with her hand. "He's better now. Feyre-" And suddenly, her eyes brightened up once more.

"Feyre's awake- that's what I came here to tell you about."

And just like that, Elain was out the door.

"How did you even get here?" Lucien asked, frowning.

"Mor brought me here to call Elain," She said.

Then it was her turn to frown and squint at him. "Did Elain weave flowers into your hair?"

That could very well be the first time Lucien ever blushed, seeing the immense amount of red on his cheeks.


	15. Chapter 14

"Morning," Rhys murmured, peppering my face with kisses.

"I'm not waking up," I murmured under my breath, my face still immersed in the pile of blankets.

"Feyre, darling," He purred, "As much as I would like to, we can't stay in bed forever. You're the High Lady of the Night Court, you share my duties now."

I rolled over to bury my face into his side. "Don't remind me." I groaned.

"I'll remind you every day," He said, flicking a strand of hair around my face. "After all, it means I get to do less work."

I made a face at him. "And if I interrupt your work with a trip to our favourite shop down the street? A very specific shop with very kind ladies who fit me into very beautiful clothes… or parts of clothes," I murmured, trailing my fingers down his bare chest.

He growled, a low reverberating sound and grabbed my wrist. I smiled back at him, a sly smile that spoke desire and mischief within it. He answered that smile with one his own before merging both together.

A loud knock on the front door startled me and I pulled away from Rhys who gave me a pout.

"Morning~" Mor's cheerful and muffled voice rang from downstairs. "Nesta's returned with Elain and Lucien and are at the House of Wind."

I snapped my gaze from where her voice was coming from and turned to Rhys, raising an eyebrow.

"Nesta? Seeing Elain with Lucien?" I pondered over it.

Rhys merely shrugged, watching me as I got out of bed.

"If an avalanche or eruption hadn't happened, I would be surprised," He added. "Has Nesta shown any sign of magic?"

I shook my head. If she even had some, she would most likely hide all signs of it from any of us. She would hide any signs that she was becoming more like the species she despised. Elain, on the other hand, was much different in this sense. She embraced her powers fully and had Spring magic, proven by the flower sprouting around the cabin, as said by Az.

Hurriedly, I put on my dressing gown and tossed another one to Rhys who was still on the bed. I barked at him to get moving and he merely laughed, lazily snapping his fingers and whisking away the torn clothes on the floor.

"Prick," I muttered and left the room.

I ran down the stairs and opened the door. Mor raised an eyebrow at my choice of clothing but said nothing about it, although I could tell she was silently chuckling about it.

"Come in," I said, smiling. "And Nesta? Did you send her to the cabin?"

Mor nodded. "Yes. Elain needed to know you were awake and Nesta needed to know who her sister was spending her time with," She explained, closing the door behind her. I could hear the distrust in her voice when she spoke with who Elain was spending her time with.

I was slightly upset at the fact that probably none of them trusted Lucien. He had betrayed me, yes, but he had still gone through suffering from both Tamlin and probably Ianthe. Ianthe. I had almost forgotten about her. Of course she would have been torturing Lucien with her failed advances. That was why he had seem so keen to get rid of her. He had been whipped by his supposed friend, for gods' sake. I suppose his predicament had been something like mines, where Tamlin utterly changed when he got his powers back. He had probably been afraid of Tamlin when he had his powers back. When he didn't, Tamlin had seemed more of an equal towards Lucien and that was why Lucien had seemed brave enough to talk with Tamlin and give him advice like a friend.

Putting those thoughts aside, I turned back to Mor. She had cast a look at Rhys who was on the balcony of the staircase, looking down at his cousin. She rolled her eyes when he gave her a lazy smile.

"Go change," She said. "The both of you. I'm not going anywhere, am I?"

"Commanding your High Lady and High Lord around now, Mor?" Rhys smirked.

Mor and I both rolled our eyes.

xXx

They were all eating breakfast when we got to the House of Wind. Elain caught sight of me and immediately rushed over, catching me in a hug. I laughed and hugged her back. It was times like this when our roles were reversed, when the lines between the roles of youngest and older sister were blurred.

Nesta sat stonily at the table, eyes darting between Elain and Lucien, only giving me and brief nod and small smile. She had seemed quite joyful when I awoke but it had quickly faded back to her usual demeanour, especially when she found out about Elain and Lucien. It didn't surprise me. Another line drawn between the Archeron sisters, although this one was much more clear and sharp.

Breakfast was exquisite. I had forgotten how I had missed the exotic spices that had made their home in the Night Court. The Spring Court had food that seemed fit for the people who thought themselves of a higher status than the rest, which fit the High Lord who ruled the court.

Our conversation was pleasant, with the occasional competitive spark between the Inner Circle. It took a dark turn when Az spoke of the Court of Nightmares.

"The Court of Nightmares requires a visit," He said. "To announce their new High Lady of the Night Court and for the imminent war against Hybern. And also to "listen" to your subjects' suggestions." He made quotation marks in the air when he said listen.

I stilled. Another to the Court of Nightmares, another mask to put on. Rhys's warmth and hand stroking my thigh was the only thing keeping me from snapping.

"And when do you think this visit will be?" Rhys asked Az.

"Whenever you and Feyre think so," He replied.

I was only surprised for a slight second. I was the High Lady of the Night Court now, equal to Rhys. We would both make the decisions that affected our court together, the decisions that affected our people and even ourselves.

"Tomorrow? Unless our court is in too much of a mess right now," I said dryly.

Az shook his head. "It's always chaotic down there but it holds. Your people haven't gone awry. Yet."

My people. I ran my tongue over those words. I still had yet gotten used to the prospect of me ruling over a court. Just a little over a year ago, I had been a mere human, still hunting for my human family. Now, I was a High Lady with the powers of the seven courts, having a different family but a family just as strong as blood ties. High Lady. Something tingled in the back of my mind.

" _What will everyone call me, then?"_

" _Hmm?" he said._

" _Is everyone just going to call me 'Tamlin's wife'? Do I get a … title?"_

 _He lifted his head long enough to look at me. "Do you want a title?"_

" _No," I said. "But I don't want people … "_

" _I don't know if I can handle them calling me High Lady."_

" _They won't," he said. "There is no such thing as a High Lady."_

" _What do you mean, there's no such thing as a High Lady?"_

" _High Lords only take wives._ _Consorts_ _. There has never been a High Lady."_

" _But Lucien's mother—"_

" _She's Lady of the Autumn Court. Not High Lady. Just as you will be Lady of the Spring Court. They will address you as they address her. They will_ _respect_ _you as they_ _respect her."_

I couldn't think what had happened whilst we had had that conversation. I shuddered inwardly as I remembered his heat and touch, distracting me from his lies. I felt Rhys's anger as he sensed my thoughts.

"How long has it been since there's been a High Lady?" I asked.

Rhys scowled. "Tamlin did tell you there was no such thing as a High Lady."

Cas laughed. "Another lie."

Of course it would be another lie. I had had a suspicion that he had lied to me because he didn't want me to get the idea that I could be his equal or have more power than him. I scowled at that.

"So what's the real story?" Surprisingly, it was Nesta who asked.

"When Prythian was first handed over to the fae, there were no courts. There was only a High Queen and High King. They ruled for three centuries before handing their rule over to their offspring. Traditions. Afterwards, a generation of the High Royalty felt that this ruling system was too controlling. They split Prythian into the seven courts, segregated by the powers the fae had. All fae had powers back then but it sort of diluted down the line," Mor explained.

She continued, "The High Royalty dispersed but they still needed a home. They created an island somewhere and made that their home. To this day, no one knows where it's located or if there are still descendants or the original High Royalty living there. However, before they left Prythian to the seven courts, the High Queen and King created spells and ensured there would always be a High Lord and High Lady ruling their courts, for equality and because the High Royalty wanted partners to rule the courts. A High Lord and High Lord pair or a High Lady and High Lady pair worked too. Everything went fine in the first few millennials. Then a tyranny rose in the kingdom. He was hungry for power and wanted to destroy the spells that made the High Lords and Ladies who they were and become High King after taking their power. He managed to break the High Ladies' spell but not the High Lords. He was killed before that happened.

Many tries were made to recreate the spells for the High Ladies but none were successful. They even tried to find the High Royalty to remake the spells but like I said, no one knows where they're located. There were no more High Ladies until now, which I think is because of your powers. They move past any spell meant for an original High Lady with powers from only one court."

So I was a miracle?

 _You're more than a miracle._

I smiled. "How do you know all that?"

Mor shrugged. "The Morrigans before me shared their history with me. Being the Truthteller counts for something, at least."

I sneaked a look at Az. He was listening and gazing intently as Mor explained. I wondered if either of them knew how the other felt. And then I wondered if they were mates but if they were, surely the bond would have snapped into place by now, especially because of the large amount of time they had spent together.

I put those thoughts aside for now.

"And so that's why everyone seemed so surprised when we announced Feyre as a High Lady," I mused.

"We've all heard rumours of the history of how there only came to have High Lords, but never the specifics," Rhys said.

"Wait, backtrack a bit. The Court of Nightmares? Is that what everyone is so afraid of in the Night Court?" Nesta asked.

We all nodded in unison.

"Do all of us have to go?" Elain asked.

"Only if you want to. No one's forcing you to come," I said gently.

Elain looked relieved at that. So did Lucien. To be honest, their presence would seem awkward in the Court. But for Nesta…

She wanted to go and see what this feared court looked like. It was shown clearly in her eyes.

Cas noticed too. "You don't have to go if you don't want to," He said softly.

"I'm not fragile, Cassian. I'll be going. I want to see for myself what all this talk on the Court of Nightmares is about," She announced.

Rhys nodded. "Very well. Now to go over the events of what we'll be doing tomorrow…"

xXx

We were heading for the Court of Nightmares tomorrow night. Rhys sent Az out to gain further information for the speech we would both make tomorrow. We were reading for anything, complains, protests, mere obedience.

It was now hours after we had discussed our plans for tomorrow. Rhys's head was in my lap, my hands gently stroking his hair.

"I'm sorry we have to go back- to see that part of us you fear," He said softly.

My hands continued their path in his hair. "No, it's fine. And I no longer fear that part of our court, Rhys. It's part of me now too. I no longer feel afraid towards the prospect of it."

"I have to say…" Rhys turned around, lifting himself into a sitting position. My hands dropped from his hair, only to find them in Rhys's soft grasp.

"You're not going to like this," He muttered.

I tightened my grip on his hands. "It's doesn't matter, Rhys. Tell me."

He took a deep breath before speaking. "The mortal queens- immortal now- and Ianthe. They weren't in the Spring Court when you were there."

I shook my head, confused He knew they hadn't been there.

"Az's spies have heard news. Rumours, more like."

"What rumours?" I asked.

"Rumours that the queens have returned to the mortal realm- in their immortal state and Ianthe has followed."

I stilled, thinking. "They're going to the mortal kingdoms to gain their support in bringing down the walls."

"I think so too," Rhys said, sighing.

"The mortals won't allow it- they'll chase the queens away once they hear of their transformation."

"Not if the queens have too much power over them. With the added power Ianthe has, she could use it properly in the mortal realm and keep the mortals in check," Rhys said.

"And we would have to deal with that after we deal with the Court of Nightmares," I concluded.

He nodded, looking slightly guilty.

"You said it before and I'll say it again. This is war."


	16. Chapter 15

It never dawned on me how much Rhys made me look like a queen. Every time we went somewhere where we would need to put on a show, he would always adorn me with crowns. Today was no different. My crown was simple but hard to ignore. It was adorned with black gems which sparkled as I moved and they were firmly attached in a thick band of rose gold. My dress went with the crown. It was once more just a sliver of cloth covering my breasts, hugging my curves and the gown of the dress was slit in the middle, showing off a hint of both of my legs. The back of my dress showed off my back and swooped downwards in a dark heap, making it look like darkness was dripping down from my back. The dress was mostly black, with several outlines of rose gold around the neckline.

I was dripping with gold jewellery, stars on my ears, arms and fingers and sparkles on the necklace around my neck. My eyes were lined with dark kohl and sprinkled with silver dust with gold eye shadow. My lips were blood red and a faint blush outlined my cheeks. My hair had been styled to fall in light waves on one side of my shoulder, sprinkled through with black sparkles. Nuala and Cerridwen had done a great job with me.

Their spying paid off too. Rhys too, was dressed in a suit made out of mostly black, with rose gold on the cuffs, neckline and a faint sheen of the colour on the pocket of his jacket. His hair had been smoothly gelled back. (A fact I planned to remove later). He, too, had a crown on his head. It was similar to mines with black gems that were also embedded in a band of rose gold. However, his had longer tips and the rose gold was a fainter colour, showing itself only when the light reflected off it. He had a ring of a black star on his finger, fitting the tattoo only I knew he had on his knee.

He gave me a grin when he caught sight of me, winnowing behind me and wrapping an arm around my waist.

"You look absolutely delicious, Feyre," He purred.

Without missing a beat, I winnowed behind him and looped my arms around his neck.

"So do you," I purred back.

He spun around, motive clearly to kiss me but I stopped him with a finger to his lips.

"I don't want my lipstick smudged," I said, smiling.

His eyes flashed with mischief and humour but he backed away, clutching the hand that had been placed at his lips.

The rest came in soon after. True to her word, Nesta was there, dressed in a similar fashion to mines and looking extremely uncomfortable in it. Elain and Lucien were back in the mountain cabin, standing by their words in not coming with us. Mor, Az and Cas were dressed in similar clothes I had seen them in the last time I had been in the Court of Nightmares. Mor winnowed Az and Cas whereas Rhys winnowed Nesta and I to the entrance.

Rhys and I stayed back while the rest walked in, planning to walk into the throne room at a later time. We entered together, side by side. Members of the court not stalking around in the throne room wandered around the many hallways in the underground court, stopping when we passed and looking on with trepidation and lowering their heads. We smirked at those who lowered their heads a few seconds later, increasing fear passing their features.

We heard someone announce us from inside the throne room and took that as our cue to enter. We released our dampers on our darkness at the same time before walking in. In the throne room, another throne had been added, placed next to the identical black throne used from before. With one arm hooked with Rhys's, he led me to the thrones and we sat, him on the left and myself on the right. Our Night Court subjects kneeled, heads down.

I then took note of where our Inner Circle were kneeling. Cas and Az both stood near the entrance to the throne room while Nesta and Mor stood on the other side of the room.

"Rise," I said, my voice ringing through the entire throne room.

They all shuffled to their feet, eyes darting between the two now sitting on two thrones, contemplating what the situation was at the moment.

Keir stumbled in front of us- stumbling at the fact that there were now two he had to bow to, obviously confused. I felt a smirk lighten my features as I happily took note on how he was limping and how some of his bones on his arm and leg still looked terribly distorted.

"Mi… Milord, I-"

"Address your queen," Rhys drawled.

Keir's eyes flickered to me. I smiled wickedly at him in return. Gulping, he turned back to Rhys and then to the ground.

"Milady-"

"Look at me," I commanded.

He did, although his eyes wavered and flickered. "Milady and milord. I- things have changed tremendously since your last visit here, milord."

I nearly scoffed. "Yes, Keir, things needn't be too boring around here."

Keir's head nodded up and down like a retarded seal. Rhys ignored him and we stood up together, ready for him to deliver the speech we had practised yesterday.

"My loyal subjects," He drawled, voice unwavering even as I traced my left hand down his chest, "Consider yourselves lucky you were born into the era you are in now. The Night Court has been your home as long as you have lived and I've ensured you've all managed to keep calling it your home in my rule. Today, I'm pleased to announce someone else who will be ruling beside me as my equal and who will lead all of you in the same way I have. You knew her as the Cursebreaker once, which she still is, but she is also now your queen. Feyre Archeron, the High Lady of the Night Court and my mate."

There were murmurs around the entire room and people looking away from our spectacle on the stage. My hand was getting dangerously low and by Rhys's breath he knew it too. The people clapped and cheered out of obedience for their rulers and possibly fear too. I scrutinised their features, noting out fear and anger in some of them, but mostly curiosity and wonder in the rest.

 _Feeling a tad bit breathless darling?_

I heard his growl that went through the bond.

 _Feyre-_

My hand stopped short on his abdomen, and it travelled upwards and to his wrist, tracing circles up and down.

 _Ticklish._

 _The High Lord of the Night Court is ticklish?_

 _Isn't everyone ticklish?_

I smirked to myself. Then, my gaze flitted to Keir. He was furious, fuming in the corner.

I gave a saccharine smile to the crowd and without looking at Keir, said," Yes Keir? Something on your mind you would like to say?"

He didn't look very fearful now. I assumed it was because he didn't know what I was capable of- yet.

"I apologise if I'm being very direct, milord, but so soon after Amarantha's reign? Do you not fear what would happen if our so called High Lady takes after the tyranny herself? Because we do. Some of us are still reeling from what happened and none of us want to be under another reign like _hers_ ," He spat out.

I cocked my head, heels clicking on the floor as I walked one, two, three steps closer to him. He hadn't yet insulted me directly but this, something that basically entitled me to being an Amarantha 2.0?

I clicked my tongue, shaking my head at me. "If I were Amarantha, you would have been dead the moment I stepped foot in here. And I wouldn't have done the dirty work, our lovely shadowsinger would have gladly done it."

Keir's eyes flickered to Azriel who just stared at him coolly. He quickly looked away and back up at me. "And High Lady? I've never heard of such a thing, only Ladies of Courts."

Rhys answered him for me. "She is no simple or just Lady of the Night Court. She is more than the other Ladies from other courts and much more powerful than even the High Lords of the other courts. Never forget she is the child of the seven courts, Keir. And you would do well to remember your place and refrain from spouting out questions without thinking them through. Your High Lady hasn't yet had the chance of breaking anybody. You being her first would be pleasing to her."

"As I recall previously, you were busy getting us some drinks to quench our thirst," I added.

I didn't give a direct order, nor did I need to. Everyone knew what I meant and what I wanted, especially Keir. He scurried off, tail between his legs.

We walked back and seated ourselves on the thrones once more. I caught Nesta's eye and she gave me a slight nod, one that I appreciated as she had never seen this side of any of us before. I did see a tinge of fear in her eyes, but that was before she broke our gaze and her eyes rested on Cas.

Messengers came before us and they each presented us with problems and situations happening in and outside of the court. Most were in court problems, like how there had been several attacks on Night Court posts outside of Night Court lands. Az had been our key to outside occurrences.

Keir presented us with his own problem he had found. Of course his would be the most discouraging one.

"There have been rumours going around that there have been spies placed in our midst from Hybern himself," He said.

"Do explain," Rhys said.

"I'm certain he's heard of our own spies in the court he's currently occupying and has decided to retaliate in the same way. He cannot get to us through means of armies and I can conclude from that that he's decided to have a stealthy approach to it, placing several of his good men into our courts as spies. These spies would then report back to their base and it would explain the raids and attacks on several of our protected spots around other sites of Prythian," Keir explained.

"A valid explanation, but do you have any proof?" I asked.

His eyes glinted with satisfaction at something. "Yes. We caught one whilst you were away." And he motioned to several guards, who left the room and came back with a female fae writhing in their grasps.

"She was found to be eavesdropping on conversations around Higher Night Court Fae and had been reported to have been delivering messages to an unknown figure," Keir said.

I looked carefully at the female. Yes, I saw hate in her eyes and anger. Anger at being caught or anger at the rest of us for some unknown reason? And behind it all, a tinge of fear.

"Bring her forward," I ordered.

The guards pulled her forward until she was kneeling before us. I didn't want to use my daemati skills on her yet, unless she was being uncooperative.

"What's your name?" I asked her.

She looked up and surprisingly, answered me. "My name is Sibyl."

"And were you spying and eavesdropping, Sibyl? Do you confess to what Keir accused you of?"

She merely spat at the floor. "Why don't you just pry into my mind and find out for yourself? Or are you incapable of doing so?"

I frowned. Was she doubting my powers?

"Come now, Sibyl. Where's the fun in that?" Rhys chuckled.

I smiled at that, another mask. Sibyl snarled and just glared at us. Then, her eyes widened and she trashed and convulsed. I knew exactly what was happening. I felt through the bond when Rhys entered her mind and I knew he was extracting everything he could find out from her, erasing parts of her on the way. I had no choice but to grin when Rhys was finished with her, her glassy eyes staring up at the ceiling. Guards carried the body away, unquestioning.

No one asked what Rhys had found out. That information was classified for his own Inner Circle, or as our people believed, people from his trusted advisors.

We left as soon as all the messengers had delivered their messages and when we had grown bored of the court.

"So what did you see?" Mor asked, perky as ever, utterly different from her persona in the throne room. Nesta was still reeling from what she had seen and had left to rest early.

"Sibyl hadn't known that Hybern would be using her. Hybern wanted her to be caught and killed all along. All that was worthwhile in her mind was a message that had been on constant replay on her mind.

' _Do you think yourself to be smart, gaining the cure for your precious queen? I have my own share of queens here and they are steps forward in front of you as you parade around in your little, dainty court. I gave you a chance for mercy once, and one could say that it was a deal to work together. And you refused. There will be war, High Lord. One that will tear your world apart forever.'_

Rhys told us the message out loud.

I paused and contemplated it, especially the part about the queens. "He knows we know that the immortal queens and Ianthe have travelled to the mortal lands. He wouldn't be this direct if he knew we didn't know."

Mor scowled at the mention of the immortal queens.

Suddenly, I remembered something that Ianthe had told me when I had thought her to be someone I could trust.

"She still has family in another part of Prythian, Vallahan. I think… I think it's time we paid it a little visit."

 **AND THAT WAS CHAPTER 15! Ah guys, I am so so sorry I didn't post last week, it was my assessment week and I had been packed with studying every single day. I was rushing to finish this chapter but thank god I already had the storyline in my head. I PROMISE TO POST ONCE EVERY WEEK GUYS!**


	17. Chapter 16

"Are we going to Vallahan to kill her sisters?" Mor asked.

I shook my head. Even when dealing with such a horrible priestess like Ianthe herself, her own family didn't deserve to suffer for her crimes.

"Are they even still alive?" Cas asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. But I'm sure there are other priestesses there who can shade some more light on how Ianthe came to be and maybe several of her weaknesses. And then, after all that, we'll travel to the mortal world and find her and the immortal queens."

xXx

Three days later, Rhys was helping me get dressed for our trip to Vallahan.

"Nervous, darling?" He murmured, hands brushing my hair to one side.

I leaned into his touch. "A bit," I admitted, turning to face him.

Understanding flittered across his face. "Don't be. It's your, what- third plan already? And your other plans have been extremely successful, if I do say so myself."

"And anyway," He added. "If you're truly feeling that nervous, I can always bring you back to the Spring Court and Amren could babysit you. Or I could always make you fit into my pocket if you don't want to see what you're getting into," He smirked.

I scowled. "I dare you. Maybe even spice things up a little. You don't need to put me in just a simple pocket. Maybe someplace closer to home…"

Even when hinting just a little, Rhys understood what I meant. His eyes darkened and somehow, his hands ended up on my waist, going dangerously downwards. I raised my eyebrows and stepped away, his hands falling to his sides.

"I think I should get dressed. On my own, this time. Get things done faster, you know?" I smiled.

Rhys merely watched as I left the walk-in-closet to our bedroom.

After further discussion, we had decided that Rhys, Elain, Lucien and myself would be going to Vallahan. I had asked Elain myself and thought her presence would make ours less frightening and show the similarity of sisterhood to Ianthe's own sisters.

Mor would be in charge of the court while we were gone, Az would continue with his spymaster duties whereas Cas and Nesta would travel to the Illyrian camps to prepare them for the upcoming war.

We would have flown there but Rhys was the only one who actually knew how to fly properly. Winnowing there was out of the question as Vallahan had different laws and we didn't want to cause any interruptions to their system there. Therefore, we would winnow to the edge of the Night Court border near the sea and take a boat ride to Vallahan.

We had now boarded the boat for Vallahan. It was, of course, privately owned by Rhys. The captain aboard had been ecstatic to be serving us and staff showed us to our rooms. The boat was like a mansion on water. Elain and I both were slightly paranoid of the boat. After all, it was a boat which had caused all our riches to disappear, both them and the crew never to be seen again. Lucien and Rhys both sensed it and shared a look.

 _Are you okay?_

 _I'm fine._

 _You're not a very good liar, Feyre._

I gave a mental shudder. _It's just being on a boat. The last time I was on one was around ten years ago. And it was a boat that caused my family to lose everything. Maybe I'm just scared that this boat will capsize and bring me down with it._

 _Even if the captain of this boat loses control of it, I can say that I make a ravishing sailor. Something like using my wonderful powers to make this wonderful ship sail. Does that ease your worries?_

 _You? A sailor? I believe my paranoia has just grown._

He scoffed. _Excuse me? Now you're just being outright rude._

 _Why? Does is hurt your elephant sized ego?_

 _I have a non-existent ego._

 _Tell that to the rest of the Inner Circle. They'll laugh you out of Velaris for weeks._

 _I'll have you for company, won't I?_

 _No, you'll be just fine on your own. You can come back after you've travelled around the entirety of Prythian thinking about your worst lie._

He scoffed but we know he had accomplished what he had wanted to do. His words had managed to ease my worries. 

"If you both are done talking?" Lucien asked.

Rhys rolled his eyes and hooked his arm around my waist. "I'm sure you have some talking to do on your own," He called out as we left.

As soon as we were out of their sight, Rhys surprised me by pushing me against the wall, starting to kiss my neck. I gasped and against my whole body and mind's wishes, winnowed to the end of the room.

"Rhys, darling, we should go exploring first," I said cheekily.

He growled and winnowed behind me. "I thought you said you were paranoid?"

"You said you would help in that section wouldn't you? And anyway, I recall you saying you needed protection with my water wolves a while ago. We have each other for protection, hmm?"

I heard his grin and flutters of happiness behind our bond.

xXx

We reached Vallahan in the span of three days. The four of us had been playing a board game when the sailor came in, apologising for his intrusion and informing us that they had seen land.

Elain had pulled me on the deck to see us approaching Vallahan, leaving Lucien and Rhys to hurry after us. Arm hooked together, Elain and I had watched as the lands got closer and closer and marvelled at the scenery Vallahan held.

The shore was packed with throngs of people. It appeared as if they had been awaiting for our arrival. When we came down from the ship, a woman with similar types of robes to Ianthe's greeted us. Her robes had long, billowing sleeves and a skirt that reached her ankles and they were a deep red in colour. They had gold outlines and there was a crest on the breast of her robe, a crest of a bird with two swords across them in the shape of a cross and with a crown and three diamonds above it.

"Welcome to Vallahan. My name is Valloria, the Priestess of Vallahan and advisor to the Overlord. The whole of Vallahan, myself included, have been anticipating your arrival since your message three days ago," She said, smiling.

"Such a warm welcome," Rhys drawled. "And where is this supposed Overlord of Vallahan?"

"He is resting in his home. I advised him to make an appearance today but he's come down with a terrible headache, I'm afraid," Valloria said in a solemn manner.

 _Of course he has._

 _Why, Feyre darling, are you not the trusting sort?_

 _You should know. I recall throwing my shoe in your face once because I didn't trust you._

 _The back of my head. There's a difference._

I nearly rolled my eyes.

 _Of course there is._

Lucien shot us a look that clearly told us to stop talking in each other's heads.

"That sounds awful. I do hope he's feeling better," Elain said smoothly.

Valloria looked surprised and pleased at Elain talking. "And you are? I know of the High Lady and High Lord but you and your other male companion- I have not heard of you."

"My name is Elain Archeron, sister to the High Lady of the Night Court. And the male companion next to me is Lucien, son to the High Lord of the Autumn Court and previous advisor to the High Lord of the Spring Court."

Valloria's eyes brightened. "Of course! One of two sisters who were made into High Fae from the Cauldron. This is truly an honour. Vallahan has not gotten a visit from High Lords in centuries, nor have we ever had the honour of greeting a High Lady and High Fae created, not born. And Lucien- Lucien, with no title. You once belonged to the Autumn Court and moved to the Spring Court. And now you've left the Spring Court- so where do you stand now? Who currently has your loyalty?"

Valloria's questions were from curiosity yet insulting to a certain degree.

"My loyalties lie with Elain. Wherever she goes, I go."

I hid my smile. Already so smitten with Elain. Elain thought so too and could not hide her surprise.

Valloria smiled. "Young love," She mused, almost chastising. "Follow me," She added, before turning and walking into the crowd.

We each shared looks before following behind her. She led us to a group of three other priestesses who wore the same robes as her, although theirs were outlined in silver. They each took our hands and winnowed us to the outside of a mansion, something that all of us felt strange in. I don't think any of us had known priestesses could winnow too, although Ianthe had probably done it once in the Spring Court.

The mansion was like the one my family had in the mortal realm. The mortal realm. Our father was still there, probably wondering and worrying where all of his daughters had gone. I wondered whether he had even hired people for a search party. When we went back to visit the mortal realm, I had a feeling a visit to our father would be required too.

"There are no palaces here in Vallahan. This is the mansion the Overlord lives in, together with his Council and other advisors that work alongside me," Valloria explained.

We went in together and were greeted by the sight of tons of people in the entrance. The other three priestesses disappeared into the crowd and Valloria led us through to a hallway with fewer people and then into another hallway which was empty. We were then greeted by the sight of a set of double doors and Valloria pushed them open, ushering us inside.

Inside the room, there was a large round table surrounded by ten chairs, one slightly taller than the others. That was the chair the Overlord sat in, I presumed. The room was empty save for us and Valloria motioned for us to sit in the four chairs opposite the taller chair, taking the seat next to it.

"The Overlord will be in in a moment."

True to her word, sometime after we had taken our seats, the double doors opened and in came two guards and a tall man who seemed much too young to be an Overlord, followed by another two guards. Then again, Rhys didn't seem his age, nor did the other members of the Inner Circle.

The man's face was set into a grim line and although his features made him look young, something in his eyes made him seem more matured and experienced. He did look weary and I could only hope that it was because Valloria's words about him having a headache was true.

We each stood and introduced ourselves. The Overlord introduced himself as Adonis.

"Welcome to Vallahan. I assumed you would be staying here awhile, although you didn't specify how long in your message. We've acquired rooms for you in my home here, unless you'd rather stay somewhere outside. We've acquired a villa for you to stay in too, if you'd rather there than here." Adonis said.

Elain shook her head. "No, no, here would be fine."

Adonis smiled at her, although his face didn't show any signs of surprise at her liveliness. We made small talk on each of our islands and how things were going in each of our lands.

"Very well, then. So, down to business. Why have you come? It's rare that we get visitors from the other islands of Prythian," Adonis said after our pleasant conversation.

I took note of his words. Other islands? I assumed he was talking about Hybern and the island we had come from ourselves, unless there were others around. I made another note to ask Rhys about that later.

"We'll be blunt with you, Adonis, we came here to have a chat with a family of one of your High Priestesses. You may recall Ianthe?" Rhys asked. 

Adonis's eyes darkened at her name. "Ianthe is a dark spot on Vallahan and to all priestesses everywhere. She has ashamed us all by allying with Hybern. We no longer refer to her as a High Priestess."

I nodded. "Good. Then I can safely assume that this can all be easier. We don't wish to waste your time, especially with the headache you have right now. We came here to request for time to speak with Ianthe's sisters, if you would allow us to."

Adonis nodded. "Of course, of course. However, it would be required for you to visit them with guards accompanying you. It's not that we don't trust you, but that we don't trust her family."

"Ianthe may be a cruel person but that doesn't necessarily mean her family takes after her, or the other way around," Elain said, frowning.

"Yes, of course, but precautions must be taken. You understand, don't you?" Adonis said, eyes darting between each of us.

And then I realised his bluntness and speed to agree with us wasn't from respecting his guests or anything, but rather from fear at what we could do to him and at the power we held.

"We understand. When do you think we can visit her family?" I asked smoothly.

"Anytime you want. When would be your earliest convenience?"

"Tomorrow, perhaps. We are, after all, tired from our trip here," Lucien said.

Adonis nodded once more. "Of course, of course. Dinner will be served in an hour or so, though, unless you would rather have it in your rooms if you're too tired?"

Elain shook her head. "No, we would be honoured to have dinner with you. Would you show us to our rooms?"

"Yes, Valloria? Show them to their rooms, please."

Valloria seemed reluctant too and displeased at how her Overlord had quickly agreed to our demands. However, she did obey and we were led out quickly and shown to our rooms each, one for me and Rhys and two separate ones for Lucien and Elain, although all three were connected by a series of doors. We readied ourselves for dinner and for more conversations with other people from Vallahan.


	18. Nessian Chapter

**Hey guys, so I know you all wanted a Nessian chapter since I posted the Elucien one and since in the last chapter, I did mention of them going off to visit the Illyrian camps, I thought it would be just nice to write a chapter of their trip there. REMINDER: Remember to send in reviews, any reviews are appreciated, be it critical or just to say what you thought of the chapter. Thank you!**

Nesta was pissed. She hid it well, only nodding when they had planned for her and Cassian to go together to the Illyrian camps when she was actually fuming inside. She already had had to deal with him when he was drowning in his own personal torment after he lost his wings. The Day Court hadn't yet sent the cure and she was getting suspicious that they hadn't started on it yet. She was frustrated with him- just as she had gotten to understand him a little, his demeanour would change and go back to that snarky Illyrian she had kicked in the balls.

They would leave for the Illyrian camps the same morning Rhys, Feyre, Elain and Lucien left for Vallahan. She had protested when they had asked Elain to come with them, although she backed off when Elain pleaded and told her that she needed to come, that it would be much better for them and for herself. That morning had arrived and a servant by the name of Cerridwen had gave her Illyrian fighting gear to dress in, a gift from Feyre. Another servant by the name of Erinna had also been there to help her get dressed but Nesta had refused her help, preferring to dress on her own instead. She was now rejecting that decision, struggling to pull on the outfit.

"Damn these Illyrians," She muttered, annoyed.

Her annoyance was riling her up and she took in deep breaths to calm herself down, knowing what would happen if she didn't. She finally got the outfit on and sank down onto the bed. She refused to acknowledge the bed as hers- nor did she acknowledge that Velaris or the Fae lands had become her home.

The irritation hadn't completely gone. Tearing her eyes away from the outfit she now wore, she focused her attention on a dresser on the far side of her room. Narrowing her eyes at it, she clenched her fists. Almost immediately, the top of the dresser started to vibrate and shake. Shuddering, she withdrew her magic from it, getting up and running a hand through her hair.

She took in deep breaths once more, trying to calm herself down. She had discovered her powers around the same time Elain had, just kept it to herself. She still remembered exactly what had happened.

" _Nesta~" Elain called out from the living room of the cabin. They had been brought into this cabin by that blond haired fae- Morrigan, was it? Something about her and Rhysand being cousins._

" _Yes, Elain?" Nesta asked, tearing her eyes away from the paintings around the cabin. Feyre's. A pang of homesickness tore through her, but she pushed it down and headed into the living room to see what her sister had called her there for._

 _She gasped when she entered and Elain saw it in her eyes at the confusion Nesta had at the moment._

" _Nesta, it's my powers. It's beautiful," Elain said, an attempt to calm Nesta down from doing anything dramatic._

 _The whole wall behind Elain was covered in peonies. Peonies of every shade and colour imaginable decorated it and some were still blooming, their vines snaking past the entire room and then through tiny gaps in the ceiling._

 _Nesta couldn't contain her shock and confusion from words. "Elain- what is this?"  
_

" _It's my powers. Remember when Mor told us that us being made into High Fae meant that we could have powers like the other High Fae? This is it, Nesta. It's unnerving, true, but they have beauty in a way, you have to admit that," Elain said, her eyes glinting with excitement._

" _I understand, Elain, but these powers- they're dangerous. And these powers originated from the fae we vowed always to despise. They're unnatural, Elain, you shouldn't be playing around with them," Nesta chastised._

 _Elain looked as if she wanted to say more and she did. She wanted to say that her powers, of Mother Nature were not unnatural in the slightest, nor were they dangerous unless she wanted them to be. And she would never use her powers in that way, unless if it was for defence. But she kept quiet instead, nodding and started to raise her hand to make the flowers wilt. Nesta stopped her before she could. "Leave them. You'll only be using more of your powers."_

 _She turned her back on Elain and left the living room and walked into the room she slept in. Shutting the door behind her, she felt like screaming and shouting at everything she could see, even at non-living things._

 _Her sister- already harbouring the powers of the wicked species she hated. And her- if what that Morrigan had said was true that would mean she had a chance of getting these powers too._

 _Her anger grew and she just wanted to hit something, exert her anger on something, anything. She screamed through her hands covering her mouth, feeling the pure rage spiralling through her and escaping through something in her body. Almost at once, she felt the ground shake beneath her feet- an earthquake. Gasping, she righted herself and when she calmed down, the rumbles stopped._

" _Nesta, Nesta!" Elain cried out, knocking on her door multiple times. "Are you alright?"_

 _Gasping and gulping, Nesta steadied herself and replied Elain. "I'm fine, nothing's wrong. Are you alright?"_

" _Yes, yes, I'm fine. Was that- an earthquake?"_

" _I have no idea, just, please Elain, go. I'm fine if you're fine."_

 _She heard Elain's footsteps starting to walk down the hallway, faltering and then starting up again. To test her theory, she tried to make the bed shake like the earthquake that had just happened. She burnt it down instead._

Of course, that had been all before Azriel had come to the cabin and suggest that Elain train with her powers and feel natural with it instead, also stating that her powers were the direct opposite of unnaturalness and that if she didn't use it, her mind would slowly deteriorate and she would go insane. After that day, she had tested out her powers again, many times and had deduced that they came from natural disasters. The earthquake, burning the bed down, even once causing wind whipping around the room- all natural disasters.

Shaking all those thoughts from her mind, she prepared herself and went out of the room.

xXx

Mor had winnowed them there, linking herself to Cassian as in case anything happened, she would know and come back to bring them back. Nesta thought it was because she didn't trust the Illyrians in the camps due to Cassian losing his wings. She knew how much they prized their wings there and would probably provoke or tantalize Cassian on his lack of wings, although he still had his seven siphons to back him up.

They both sensed each other's' nervousness as they neared the Illyrians' camp. Nesta knew herself that they would have to get to the housing area in the camp that Cassian had told her about soon or she would snap if irritated by any Illyrians passing by them.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. A male Illyrian stalked down towards them, flanked by three others.

 _Outnumbered._ The first thought that flickered into Nesta's mind.

 _Annoying brats._ The first thought that flickered into Cassian's minds.

"Lord Devlon." Cassian greeted dryly.

"Is our High Lord not here today?" He said, eyes flickering to the back of Cassian. "And I thought those were just rumours. What a shame for your wings. I assume the space for Commander is open now, hmm, seeing as you're not exactly fit for the job," He continued, smirking.

Nesta growled at the same time as Cassian. Devlon's eyes flickered over to her, eyes raking her up and down. "Are you each collecting different pets now?"

Nesta spoke before Cassian could. "Are we resorting to middle school insults now?" She asked, grinning.

Devlon blinked, clearly taken aback. "And who are you?"

"Who I am doesn't matter. All you need to know is that I'm mildly annoyed right now and wish for you to get out of our way," She replied, not missing a beat.

Devlon shared looks with the other three Illyrians before bursting into laughter. "Yeah, right. What are you going to do?"

Cassian cut in this time. "As much as I'm enjoying this chitchat, we're tired from our trip and of you. So go on now, clear out our High Lord's mother's house. We'll be staying there from now on."

Devlon raised an eyebrow. "Like I said before, my top warriors are occupying it. And without your wings, you wouldn't even be considered as good as them, so what makes you think you even deserve to stay there?"

Cassian grinned, a wild and beautiful thing on his face. "Wouldn't you like to know." He said, flexing his hands, siphons gleaming.

Devlon's face paled for a moment before regaining confidence and colour. "Whatever," He said. "We'll clear it out."

As they passed by them, she heard one of them, Devlon or any of the other Illyrians spit at them and mutter "Lapdogs."

Nesta had been worried about this for a very long time and how she would react to it. She had been afraid that she would snap as she did know how not using her magic would cause her mind to go a tiny bit crazy, demanding for release. This was the only reason she used her powers a little every day although something in her demanding for more, craved for more. That was the only reason, she told herself later, that she had exploded in front of them.

Snarling, she had unleashed a part of her power on the four Illyrians, causing a mini tornado to whip around them, flinging them back and the ground to crack and jut up as they landed painfully.

They all cursed, getting up quickly and staring at Nesta with shock and now with fear. She felt Cassian's confusion beside her but he hid it well and smiled back at the four of them, slinging an arm around her waist and walked, quickly, away from them to the side of a building a few meters ahead of them, where he turned her around to face him, questioning her.

"When did it start?" He demanded.

Nesta was still shaking, shivering from what she had done. Cassian noticed and released her, taking a step back.

"A while ago," She muttered.

"How long was a while ago?"

"Around a few days after our stay in the cabin," She said, "The same time when Elain discovered her own powers."

Cassian hissed, running a hand through his hair. "That was two months ago, Nesta. You hid this from everybody? Does anyone else know?"

She shook her head.

"Cauldron, Nesta. Do you know what would happen to you if you don't use that power? And from what we've both just seen, that power is much more powerful than what Elain can do. It can drain you completely, Nesta, how could you be so careless?"

"I know what would happen if I didn't use my powers! It's not like I didn't, only in small amounts."

Cassian still looked pissed as hell, but when he spoke this time, his tone was softer. "You could have gone insane."

"I know. And I'm not, am I?"

Cassian rolled his eyes. "No, you're not. But that doesn't mean you're going to go through using your power in small amounts again. I'm going to train you, and…" He added when he saw the look on her face, "You're not going to object."

Nesta scowled. "And if I don't want to?"

"No, you'll do it. Because I have an idea," He said, his eyes gleaming. "You're going to train… and you're going to help me train the female Illyrians."


	19. Chapter 17

The dresses Rhys had packed away for me now lay across the bed. He was whining and complaining about me making him choose for me. The dresses I had selected followed the traditional colours of Vallahan, dark blue, gold and red. Further research we had did had also shown that the gold symbolised royalty, dark blue symbolised the people serving the family or rich and powerful people in the country while the red symbolised the citizens of Vallahan.

Rhys frowned as he took in the disarray on the bed. "I didn't sign up for this," He muttered.

I rolled my eyes. "Does it matter? It's not like you could choose which parts of 'this' you wanted," I said, making quotation marks. "And besides, Cerridwen and Nuala aren't here, you'll have to fill in for that job."

"Ah, but there's a difference. They dress you. I do rather the opposite, really," He smirked.

I grabbed a random dress off the bed and chucked it at him. "If you continue, you won't get to do much of that," I sniped.

He clicked his tongue, tossing the dress back to the bed. "Now don't bring our nightly adventures into it. And don't ruin a dress in the process."

"You're the one who usually ruins my dresses," I muttered.

He grinned, mischief lighting up his features.

"We're in another land right now, a land with different laws from ours. I don't think a good first impression would be us being late," I said, grabbing a random dress from the bed and started to head to the bathroom to change.

Rhys stopped me with a touch to my wrist. "No," He reached past me and took another dress. "This one."

xXx

We were introduced to dozens of parties and courtiers during dinner. It shouldn't even be considered a dinner but a party instead. Tables surrounded an empty space in the middle for dancing and they seated guests according to a certain number. We, Rhys, Lucien, Elain and myself, sat right in front of a stage, together with Adonis, Valloria, the Head of Wealth and the Head of Social affairs. I felt uncomfortable under all their attention. It seemed like they had been planning this ever since they had heard of our arrival.

The whole event was quite grand, much like the royal gatherings Tamlin had held for his guests days before our wedding ceremony. The food was marvellous, of course, together with the decorations and other fancy items littered around the room. Right now, many people were dancing on the dance floor, neglecting the food they had on the table.

There were no royals that ruled in Vallahan, merely a court which oversaw the entire of the kingdom, Adonis being the head of the entire court. Some of these courtiers that were around the room were either scrutinizing us with disgust while others did so with fear, some with confusion in the midst of their expressions, possibly confusion to why we were here.

We were currently discussing the issue of the relationships and wealth of our two lands. Vallahan didn't need any taxes or what the Spring Court had for its subjects, it was fairly wealthy and sustainable, wanting a relationship with another kingdom to improve its status. Rhys seemed incredibly bored of the subject through the bond, although he appeared to be focused and serious throughout the entire conversation.

Valloria placed her feelings on not being focused at hand more openly, staring at the dresses Elain and I had on. Both of our dresses bore the traditional colours of Vallahan. My own dress had dark blue as its base colour, strips of red and sparkles of gold on it. It had thick and flowy sleeves and a V cutline, the back fully covered but slightly transparent to show off the curves of my shoulder blades. Was she jealous?

 _Of course she is._

I hid my smirk at Rhys's voice in my head.

 _I mean, I did choose the dress for you after all. I've been told I have impeccable taste, especially in women._

 _And what proof would you have to back up that opinion?_

 _If a person could be counted as proof, I believe I'm speaking to her at the moment._

 _Hmm. And here I thought you were bored?_

 _I am. I'm still a High Lord, Feyre darling, it would be incredibly rude to not listen to the interesting politics we have to discuss here today. You're listening yourself, aren't you?_

 _Of course I am. You're not the only High Fae around here who's a royal from other Prythian lands Rhys._

 _Touché._

Huffing at him in my mind, I turned back my focus to the conversation at hand- which had apparently ended. The two heads were muttering to each other, Valloria was busy glancing from Rhys and then back to me and Adonis was busy scarfing down food.

Valloria's voice cut in through the awkwardness and silence at our table. "Rhysand, would you like to dance?"

I saw him raise an eyebrow at that request.

 _Do you think she knows what sort of relationships we have in our lands?_

 _Jealous, Feyre?_

I scowled. Yes, there was this feeling inside of me that was annoyed at Valloria and something else with it that felt a lot like ripping her head off-

My own primal instincts, I guessed. I then realised I hadn't felt such a horrible feeling since my first visit in the Summer Court- my unhappiness and being naïve at what had went on between Rhys and Cresseida.

"Maybe later-" Rhys started.

"No, Rhys, go ahead," I said, smiling wickedly.

 _What are you doing?_

 _Dancing would ease the awkwardness and tension, wouldn't you say?_

 _And if you rip out her head later?_

I scowled. _Stop going into my head._

 _If I'm going to dance with Valloria, you have to dance with Adonis._

Before I could answer, Rhys extended his hand to Valloria who smiled and took it. Sighing, I watched them as Rhys lead her to the dance floor and they disappeared into the throngs of people.

 _Fine, then._

Turning back to the table, I was relieved to see that Adonis had stopped shoving food down his throat. "Adonis," I began, to which he snapped his head up, startled. "Since Valloria and Rhysand are dancing, perhaps we should too ourselves."

To his credit, he didn't seem frightened by the request.

"I-I- Of course, it would be an honour," He stammered.

Still keeping that smile of my face, I gave Adonis my hand and he lead me after Rhys and Valloria in the crowd of people. Tilting my head slightly back, I could see Lucien and Elain smiling at each other while the two heads were looking at the both of us with a mixture of worried and horrified expressions on their faces.

Adonis had, of course, gotten live musicians to play at this dinner. A gesture from him had the music turned from a lively tango to a waltz. I fought the urge to raise an eyebrow- did he think he could sway me with sweet smiles and fancy music?

"Thank you once again for honouring Vallahan with your presence. It's been a very long time since anybody from the other Prythian lands has graced us with their presence. And another thank you- to you and your sister- for honouring the traditions of Vallahan and for wearing its colours," He said.

"It's nothing, "I replied, "Really, it's my honour to even be allowed to wear the cultures of Vallahan."

Adonis's eyes widened at that. "No, no, you wouldn't need any permission to grace us with you honouring our traditions; that would be rude and we wouldn't want to disrespect you- at all."

I forced a blush to my cheeks. "How thoughtful of you."

He grinned back. "You're our guest. We want your visit to be the best- especially since this might be our one and only visit from such important guests like you and the others."

"Well then, thank you" I said. "I-"

And I yelped as he stepped- hard- on my right foot.

"Oh, lord, I'm so sorry- Are you alright?"

I brushed it off with a wave of my hand. "Yes, I'm perfectly alright. Waltzes are really not your thing, I assume?"

He laughed nervously. "No, not really."

"Perhaps dancing wasn't such a good idea," I said, laughing back.

"Perhaps not for us, but for your other friends," He said back, his eyes flitting somewhere to my back.

Letting go of him, I turned to where his eyes where and laughed myself. There was Rhys and Valloria at the far end of the room and Elain and Lucien closer to where we were located and both pairs were dancing- much better than Adonis and myself.

I turned back to face Adonis and found him gone. Frowning, I turned back to face the table and saw that the two heads were not there either. I turned back to where Rhys and the rest were dancing- none of them had noticed. Slipping out the back door, I used my magic to track down where Adonis had ran off to.

The hallways were emptied of any people- were everyone inside the room where the dinner was held? I tracked them to one of the many rooms that were at the sides of one of the dark hallways.

I cloaked myself in the darkness before attempting to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"-doesn't matter!"

"Why not just ask them for their opinion, then?"

"Have you gone insane, Adonis? Have you forgotten the reason why Ianthe and her family and many others escaped here? It was because of one of the fae from those lands."

"That fae was from Hybern, all the more reason we shouldn't be having this conversation right now!"

"And the people there killed that dangerous fae- wouldn't that tell you that they are much more dangerous than they could ever be."

"None of us are on your side, Crihstia. Why would we be on the side of the person who wishes to destroy the wall that has always kept the peace?"

"Because the wall means no chances of peace and negotiations between our people and the humans. Don't you see?"

"Crihstia, stop it. Your statements are insane, nothing you say will sway us. It's impossible for such a thing."

There were then sounds of furniture and crashes and the door slammed open. I darted to the sides, watching as a female walked out, her eyes murderous. She was obviously the Crihstia who had what? Wanted Vallahan to ally with Hybern?

Crihstia looked like one of Amarantha's relatives. She had very similar red eyes and pale skin, although her hair- thankfully- wasn't red. Instead, it was straight and extended to her elbows, brown with pale golden highlights.

She had most probably had her mind set on storming her way out of the hallway but stopped.

 _Move along, Crihstia._

I eased past her mind shields easily, implanting the thought into her brain. She started walking down the hallway again, but then stopped, shaking her head as if clearing it from a fog. She retraced her steps and looked around. Nothing happened even after many of my tries in planting suggestions in her mind to leave. She was immune to daemati magic, I realised, which would give a reason to why her mind shields were kept so openly.

I clung to the shadows even more now. I could have winnowed away but I had to know if she could look past even more magic than mere daemati magic. She looked around for a few more moments before shrugging and headed down the hallway.

 _Feyre? Where are you? FEYRE._

 _I went out from the room for a moment- Adonis disappeared._

 _I'm heading to our room._

 _I'll meet you there._

I winnowed to the room myself, waiting patiently for him. As soon as he arrived, I told him everything and highlighted the part where she _was immune to daemati magic_.

"It's not the first I've heard of it and its most definitely not a surprise," He said, flopping down on the bed. "And the fact that even here, in Vallahan, the leaders are going through decisions on allying with Hybern shouldn't be a surprise."

"And yet we're surprised,"

He sighed. "I mean, from what you've told me, only this Crihstia wants to be allied with Hybern and the rest have no wishes to."

"It all starts from one person," I muttered and continued, "We'll be getting more information tomorrow anyway. And if it's not sufficient, we could always make this trip longer."

"You're forgetting Lucien and Elain," He reminded.

I ran a hand over my hair. "They don't share a room, which means we'll have to tell them separately tomorrow."

"Yet. I hear your unspoken yet after your words," He said, smiling.

"Rhys…"

"Shhh…" He replied, winnowing to the back of me, slowly brushing my hair to the side of my neck and kneading the tension there. "You're very stressed."

I hummed. "I am," I murmured.

He pressed a kiss to the side of my throat. "You need a distraction," He said, his lips moving further up.

"Mmh," I sighed. "What were we talking about?"

I felt his smile. "Very serious things, perhaps we should continue that discussion." I felt him move slightly away from me.

I turned and draped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me. "No, maybe tomorrow."

His smile grew even wider and he pressed his lips to mines. "Maybe," He said when we parted.


	20. Chapter 18

I woke up nestled underneath Rhys's arm and wing. I turned around slowly to not disturb him but it was to no avail- Rhys was already awake.

I sighed and pulled myself up to my elbows. "How long have you been awake? And watching me?"

"When did you sleep?" He asked, a smile playing on his lips.

"You didn't sleep?" I asked, shocked.

He laughed and tugged me back down on the bed with him. "I'm kidding, darling. Not long before you woke up yourself."

I rolled my eyes but still leaned in to kiss him on the corner of his mouth- which then turned out to a full make out session as he turned his head so he kissed my lips instead.

"Wait, wait," I said, pulling away. "We're meeting with Ianthe's family today- we can't be late."

"I don't care," Rhys murmured and bent down.

"You might not but I do," I protested.

Rhys being Rhys didn't listen, of course. Sighing in exasperation, I had no choice but to winnow to the other side of the room. He gave me sounds of complaints and a pouty face but didn't push it, instead pulling himself up to the elbows and got up.

I knew I should most probably move and get dressed but I couldn't tear my eyes away. He caught me looking and gave me one of his grins. "Missing something, Feyre, darling?"

I scowled and walked- extremely quickly- to the washroom.

xXx

We didn't travel by the priestesses' magic, instead going to Ianthe's family's house by carriage. Rhys and I had told Lucien and Elain everything through our daemati magic, which they both responded to quite differently. (Lucien being extremely horrified whereas Elain being very curious.)

The house we stopped at wasn't very fancy but instead quaint. The only difference about it other than the other houses we had seen on our way here was that it was the only house on the street, as if the others had been torn down and been abandoned after hearing of what Ianthe had done.

"How many sisters does she have?" Elain asked.

"She never told me, just that she did have sisters and they escaped here during Amarantha's reign," I told her.

We were all silent as we walked up the steps to the house. No priestesses had followed us this time and only the coachman stood witness to us being there. A fae that had Ianthe's blond hair and eyes opened the door and she scrutinised the four of us before stepping to the side, opening the door wider.

She led us to a small room that had two couches and a glass table in the middle.

"Wait here," She said and left without waiting for a reply.

"Well then," Rhys said, flopping onto one of the couches.

All four of us sat at the same couch, leaving the other one for Ianthe's sisters. The fae came back a while later with two others in tow. They all had the same blond hair and eyes and they did sit on the other couch.

"Adonis told us you would be coming here," The fae who had brought us in said. "My name is Calantha and these are my sisters, Fleurette and Saffron, Fleurette being the one next to me. And before you start your own introductions, we know who you are."

"Okay then," I said. Word had travelled about us.

Saffron- there was something about her that I couldn't put my finger on. A certain aura around her that didn't seem right. I could tell Rhys sensed it too.

"Did he tell you we have questions?" Elain asked in that soft tone of hers.

"He did," She said.

"Are you going to talk for everyone or are you going to let your sisters speak too?" Rhys asked lazily.

"Saffron is mute," Calantha replied coldly.

 _You're very smart._

 _Thank you._

 _Who would have guessed that the most powerful High Lord in the entirety of Prythian wouldn't be able to tell if a fae was mute or not?_

 _Did you know yourself?_

"Well I'm sure Fleurette can speak then?"

My silence granted him the answer he wanted, proven by the delight and triumph I felt through the bond.

 _Don't sound so satisfied._

He merely answered with a chuckle in my mind.

 _Does this answer the certain wrongness about her?_

Silence. Possibly Rhys contemplating what he thought.

 _For some reason, no. I suspect she's hiding a certain power of her own- perhaps a power she uses to communicate with others due to her muteness._

"Why? Do you tire of my voice?" Calantha snapped.

"Callie," Fleurette said softly, placing her hand on Calantha's arm. Her voice didn't fit her appearance- she had sharp eyes and cold features, her posture straight and gaze unwavering. But she sounded soft and petite- the exact opposite of Elain, really.

Calantha relaxed a bit under the touch- but only slightly.

"So, questions. Start talking. Questions only about Ianthe I assume," She said.

"No," Elain said firmly. "I- I want to know what happened to Saffron."

Saffron jumped in surprise at the mention of her name whilst Calantha narrowed her eyes at Elain, although she didn't interfere.

"How do you communicate if you're mute, Saffron?" Elain asked softly.

Saffron shared looks with her other two sisters who merely gave her a slight nod and smiles of encouragement.

 _ **I have daemati magic.**_

There was our answer.

"How did you get your magic? You don't seem very used to your powers," I said.

 _ **They only manifested after I was muted.**_

"Are you going to pry even more into our private lives or are you going to ask proper questions that actually matter?" Calantha asked dryly.

"These are questions that matter," Rhys said firmly. "Knowing and understanding the harshness of what someone has experienced matters."

We both shared a look- and we each knew his words hadn't been meant just for Saffron but for us two and also for everyone in our court and anyone who had gone through as much harshness as we had. If not much worse.

Calantha didn't look impressed, although I could see looks of gratitude on both Fleurette and Saffron's facial expressions.

"If you truly want us to ask you what you deem to be important then fine. Where would you have gone if you had went on vacation in the mortal lands?" Lucien snapped, clearly losing his temper a bit.

Elain shook her head slightly at Lucien in warning whilst Calantha's eyes flashed at the challenge.

"We've never been to the mortal lands, how would we know where to go?" She replied dryly.

"Why do you even ask?" Fleurette said, brows drawing together.

"Well…" I started. "It seems that your sister has gone on a mission to the mortal lands, most probably a mission to help the tyranny she's serving."

At the mention of Ianthe and her working for the enemy, realisation dawned on the three sisters' faces. Ianthe and Hybern, truly working together.

 _ **We've always just wanted the rumours of Ianthe working with the enemy to be just that- rumours. And we've always been hoping for someone to say we've been mistaken, that those rumours were never true.**_

"You were in denial," Elain said slowly.

Saffron's eyes flickered away and then to the ground in answer.

"How- How was Ianthe like when you four were children?" Elain asked first.

"She wasn't always like how she is now, power hungry and extremely competitive," Fleurette told us. "She used to be the most innocent out of the four of us- always kind and the one who was… the happiest."

"What changed?" I asked, in a softer tone now.

"Our parents," Calantha replied bitterly, "They called her kindness a weakness, only because the rest of us showed only a fraction of that emotion. They said that if any of us dreamed of ever being a High Priestess, we would have to be cruel and cold. Ruthless."

"I'm sure they said much more brutal words than those," Fleurette said, raising an eyebrow at Calantha. "Ianthe always wanted so badly to please our parents anyway. That was her downfall."

"In her opinion, I'm sure she would say it was a promotion from where she had been previously," Rhys muttered.

"And your relationships with her? Her own relationships?" Lucien prodded- a dangerous subject.

 _ **Everyone she passed either completely fell in love with her or feared her. She never took any villagers to bed- no matter how many wanted her to. She was aiming for higher, more powerful fae.**_

I felt Rhys tense beside me. Slowly, I stroked the bond between us and felt it loosen and relax on Rhys's side.

 _Would you like to kill her yourself or would you want me to do it instead?_

I felt his amusement and I knew- he knew- that I had placed a bit of humour into the topic at hand to pull him out of his dark thoughts.

"How long did she stay with you guys here at her home?" Elain asked.

"She stayed until she was named High Priestess. It was expected at that time so no one was surprised. Immediately the day after, she was gone, without even a goodbye to her own family," Fleurette said with an icy tone.

"It wasn't her fault, was it? Our parents didn't expect her to say farewell to any of us. They didn't even come with us here, to Vallahan," Calantha said.

Lucien frowned. "If Ianthe had stopped showing any kindness to her family why would she bring you all here to Vallahan, away from Amarantha?"

"It's still family. She obviously still had care in her heart for her own family. What kind of person wouldn't?" Calantha scoffed.

"A person like the one we ran away from?" Fleurette supplied.

"Actually, the only reason Amarantha was made the way she was is because of family. Her sister was killed, you see, and she wanted revenge," Rhys shrugged.

Calantha merely hmmed.

"How powerful is Ianthe?" I asked.

"We never saw her practice. She never showed us anyway, or showed any interest in doing so," Fleurette replied.

"In defence of her, we never showed any interest in seeing her practice her magic," Calantha reminded.

 _ **Why are you always in defence of Ianthe?**_

"What do you mean why am I always in defence of her?" Calantha asked, bewildered.

 _ **Every time we talk about what she did wrong or anything like that, you always have to say something else to make Ianthe seem more… like what she used to be.**_

Calantha's facial features were now a mixture of shock and confusion. "She's still our sister."

"Which Ianthe are you talking about now? The one you knew when we were children or the one who's taken her place now?" Fleurette hissed.

Calantha stared at her two sisters before letting out a bitter laugh. "Everything she did she did for us."

"She's not the eldest, Calantha. You are. You're the one who's supposed to know the right and the wrong in the family, not side with the wrong," Fleurette said.

Calantha stared at Fleurette for a while longer and then stalked out of the room.

The four of us looked at each other before turning back to the two sisters left. They both looked solemn.

"I- I'm sorry for Calantha. She always wanted to believe the best in Ianthe," Fleurette said solemnly.

 _ **She still does. She, more than us, knew how Ianthe used to be like, the difference that Ianthe and this Ianthe have.**_

"She believes the past Ianthe is still in there somewhere," I said.

The two sisters nodded.

 _ **In my opinion, that past Ianthe is gone. I think- I think this Ianthe wishes to be the next Amarantha. As powerful as her. As feared as her.**_

"Don't tell Calantha we said anything like that. She'll be even angrier than she is now," Fleurette warned.

"We won't," Elain assured.

We only got several more questions in before Calantha stormed back in, eyes flashing.

"Time's up. Get out," She snarled, gesturing to the door.

"Calantha," Fleurette snapped, getting up.

"It is. Get. Out," She repeated.

All of us were now standing up, the four of us startled by Calantha's sudden change- but it seemed Fleurette and Saffron weren't surprised.

"It's okay," Elain murmured, her eyes darting between the three sisters. "We'll go."

Lucien and Rhys looked ready to argue. I was too, but not until I saw the challenges and tension darting and flashing between the three of them.

 _Listen to Elain._ I murmured into their minds.

Thank the Cauldron they listened. We were silent as we quickly got ourselves out of the house and back into the carriage.

"What would have gone on after was for the three of them to deal with among themselves," Elain said.

"We got what we came for anyway," I added.

Rhys nodded and Lucien did too, although more slowly.

Family. The core of all of our problems.


	21. Chapter 19

**Sorry I haven't posted in a really long time (for a month I think). I've been extremely busy with my exams and for the first two weeks I've been studying and then there was that whole week of exams after. The other week I didn't have any inspiration to write at all and only finished this chapter today. Also, I hosted an edit competition on Instagram so please give the winner, highladyofthenorth, a follow.** **I apologize once again for not updating sooner and I'm so sorry the story has been so dry recently.**

We left Vallahan in two days' time. Lucien and I had protested against it, saying we needed more time to uncover what else Vallahan was keeping secret from us.

"I've taken care of it," Rhys had told us, and I had gotten him to confess his plan later at night.

On the last day, Adonis took us sightseeing around the kingdom. We had asked him if there had been any High Priestesses in the kingdom at the moment but he merely answered with a vague shrug. Come to think of it, he had never told us what Valloria's rank was other than her being his advisor. Was she a High Priestess or an unusually powerful priestess?

Elain had assumed that Adonis didn't know anything about the High Priestesses in Vallahan because they didn't come under his rule- like us in a way, except the came and go as they pleased.

Throughout the entire day, Adonis turned from Vallahan's ruler into our tour guide. I was surprised he wanted to show us around himself, not send one of his own to do it. We didn't talk about what had happened that night, about his disappearance and what had happened after, although he didn't know I knew where he had ran off to.

We were all smiles, even as we had been brought to the port to leave. Adonis invited us to come back anytime, much to his council's horror. Being the honoured and kind guests we were, we invited him to do the same for the other Prythian lands; his face had paled but he still gave us a forced grin and said he would very much like to, but not in this period of time.

We were resting on the ship, once more on the three day journey back to- home. Did I consider Velaris my home now? Vallahan was certainly a place that sang to me in words of power, but Velaris- home.

"I didn't know you had acknowledged Velaris as home," Rhys said, walking towards me from another cabin in the ship with a soft smile on his face.

I remembered our conversation several months earlier- and my outburst in the end, where I had said Velaris would never be my home and winced at the memory.

 _I never really said sorry for what I said that night._ I said into his mind.

 _Oh, you said sorry in other ways._

I laughed a little at that.

The captain of the ship interrupted us then.

"A message came from your general, together with a package from your third in command, the overseer of the Court of Nightmares," He said.

As it turns out, Nesta was training the Illyrian women there whilst Cas dealt with the other commanders and training for them and the soldiers in the camp.

"Did he say anything about how they're taking- the wings?" I asked reluctantly.

"Cas can take care of himself. He would kill anyone who dared insulted him about his wings there," Rhys reminded, "But we've still been requested to make an appearance there- for a meeting and message that Cas said couldn't be written down on paper, quoted from his message itself."

I nodded, my consent to us going to the Illyrian camps.

Lucien and Elain would head back to Velaris on their own by the ship. Rhys and I would winnow to the camps- apparently we were in a rush (Rhys's own words) and we had to get to the Illyrian camps as soon as possible.

The Illyrian camps were exactly as soon as I remembered them- worn-down, rough on the edges and something off about the whole place like the last time we were here.

None of the irritating commanders had come to greet us- thankfully. I wondered if part of the reason was because they had finally realised why Rhys had made me seem like a threat- or maybe it was because there were still remnants of the primal instincts that the mating bond had left behind in Rhys. He had more control over it now, he had shown that that day I had danced with Adonis. But there had still been flickering bits of those instincts every now and then through the bond.

We walked on our own to the cabin Cas and Nesta had chased the Illyrian commanders from. We found him there- but no sign of Nesta.

"Where is she?" I asked Cas, plopping myself down on a couch.

"Training the female Illyrians," He replied.

Rhys raised an eyebrow and we shared looks.

Cas must have thought that we had shared looks because we thought that it was a bad idea but no. Rhys nodded and asked, "When did you have the time to train her?"

His face paled at that. "She's not exactly training them with her combat skills."

I frowned. "How else would she be training them?"

Sudden understanding, slight astonishment and amusement flitted through the bond. "What?" I asked. "What are you getting that I'm not?"

Now all I felt was amusement. "Feyre, darling- I'm certain Cas means that Nesta is training them with her powers."

My mouth contorted into an O as realisation dawned on me. "Her powers manifested," I breathed. "But when?"

Cas shrugged, "She wouldn't tell me."

"She won't get mad at you when she finds out you told us?"

"Oh, I'm sure she'll be mad. Furious. The desire to kill me, even." Cas said, grinning.

He did find pleasure in Nesta's storm of rage.

"How did you even find out she had powers?" I inquired.

"We got into a fight with some of the commanders," Cas said, shrugging. "Her power is… destructive."

Why wouldn't it be? This was, after all, Nesta we were talking about.

"Mor sent us a package, during the same time we got your message," Rhys said. "It's from the Dawn Court."

Cas stilled at that. "The cure?" He breathed.

"We're sure it is," I assured him.

We nodded. Rhys passed it to Cas who cradled it like a new-born child.

Rhys and I had taken a peek at the cure ourselves when we had first gotten the package. The cure had been in a velvet box, nestled and wrapped in silk. The glass vial was clear, showing the liquid inside which, coincidentally, was also clear. It did, however, give off a glow when a certain angle of light hit it. There were patterns like vines creeping up the sides of the bottle, and its stopper had the symbol of unfurled wings on it, symbolizing that it was meant for healing wings.

We left Cas alone and to his privacy if he wanted to use the cure immediately. We headed to where Nesta was training the female Illyrians. The area that they were training in was considerably large, most probably an upgrade from whatever space had been given to them before. It wouldn't be a surprise, considering that the Illyrian warriors most definitely had not been on the side of training the female Illyrians.

Other than the area being large, it was also a mess. Scorch marks could be seen as clear as day on the concrete floors and walls. There were also cracks in the floors and holes in it. There was no furniture whatsoever in the space, most probably because of whirlwinds or tornadoes Nesta could conjure up with her magic.

We had interrupted their training right as they had taken a break, causing them to quickly drop all their things and curtsy- or tried to; having gone through the hardships of being in the Illyrian camps made their curtsies seem more like stiff bows. Rhys dismissed them back to their rooms, leaving behind a woman with the familiar haughty blue-grey eyes and golden-brown hair like my own.

Nesta strode over to where we stood, raising an eyebrow at our appearance. "Here so soon already?" She asked.

"We came as soon as we got your message," I said.

She nodded. "You never told me how annoying the commanders here were."

"Well, you never told me you had already discovered your powers," I replied.

Her face paled and was drained of all colour at that. "Cassian told you, didn't he?" She growled. "That little-"

"As much as I would like to hear your methods of flirting with him, I would much rather like to discuss how you've been handling the female Illyrians with your magic," Rhys said, smirking.

Nesta shot him a look that could wither trees. "They each have names, you know. It wouldn't hurt you to learn them."

"On the contrary, Nesta dear, I take it as my duty to learn their names and it shouldn't surprise you that I do, actually, know those names." Rhys shot back.

Nesta merely gave him a glare, sister to the look she had given him mere moments before and launched into a summary of what she and Cassian had been doing at the camp for the past few days.

"And you called us here because?..." Rhys drawled.

"The patrols found multiple footsteps at the outlines of the camp yesterday, and followed them to a camp. Not an ordinary camp, might I add. There was no snow around the camp, which made it in a circle of sorts. The tents that were there were also no ordinary tents, they were large tents meant for at least three people, but the belongings in those tents showed that only one person used them at a time." Nesta explained.

We pondered at that information. "It could mean that those camping there were no ordinary fae. They could be fae with wings-"

"Or fae who are just extremely large in size." I added to Rhys's comments.

"Well whatever they were, the signs in the tents showed that they hadn't been there for some days." Nesta said. "Your patrols couldn't find anything else that was of importance there, only the scent of magic- very strong magic."

"And that's why you called us here." I concluded.

Nesta nodded.

 _We should check on those patrols- ask them to lead us to those camps and see for ourselves._

Rhys's voice sounded in my mind.

 _And Nesta?_

 _We should most probably tell her about the cure and Cas._

"Nesta- you should most probably get back to the cabin. Cas might need your help." I started.

"For what? What does he need now?" She asked and I could tell she was on the verge of rolling her eyes.

"Mor sent us a package the same time you sent us your message. The package was from the Dawn Court."

I could see the wheels whirling around Nesta's mind. "The cure?" She breathed.

I nodded. We said our goodbyes and Nesta quickly walked away, back to the cabin.

xXx

It had been Rhys's idea to check out the camp as soon as Nesta left. It was exactly as Nesta had described it. The size of the camp was small, it was only the tents that were big that made the camp seem large in the first place.

Several of the soldiers on the patrol had followed us to the camp. We both sensed the magic coming from the camp at the same time.

Stepping over the border of the camp and from snow, onto the dry ground. Rhys motioned to the patrols to stay behind the borders. We silently inspected each tent, finding it the same to Nesta's description.

 _What are we doing here?_ I silently asked him.

 _Patience, Feyre darling._

We had perhaps rounded the camp for the third time when I sensed something off in the air around us- something different from the other areas in the camp. Both of us stopped in our tracks at the same time, sensing that change.

Rhys reached down and picked up a stone. Cocking an eyebrow, he tossed it lightly to the area with the different scent from the others.

Not surprisingly, the stone disappeared in a flap in the air.

 _Portal,_ I said into his mind, rather wonderingly.

 _After you._ He said, giving me a crooked smile.

 _What- Go into the portal that we have no idea leads to where._

 _Don't be that worried. Worst case scenario, we have to fight our way out of there or persuade our way out of there- both which I know the both of us do very well._

 _Why, because of your charming looks and attitude?  
_

_Yes, exactly that._

Rolling my eyes and finding there no more arguments to have with Rhys about his absurd idea to go into the portal, I grabbed his hand and pulled him in with me through the portal.


End file.
